diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 3213da02db..604e4e2367 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -186,13 +186,11 @@ if(BUILD_MPI)
   # We use a non-standard procedure to compile with MPI on windows
   if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL Windows)
     include(MPI4WIN)
-    target_link_libraries(lammps PUBLIC LAMMPS::MPI)
+    target_link_libraries(lammps PUBLIC MPI::MPI_CXX)
   else()
     set(MPI_CXX_SKIP_MPICXX ON)
     find_package(MPI REQUIRED)
     target_link_libraries(lammps PUBLIC MPI::MPI_CXX)
-    set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_CXX PROPERTIES IMPORTED_GLOBAL TRUE)
-    add_library(LAMMPS::MPI ALIAS MPI::MPI_CXX)
     option(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG "Workaround if your system or MPI version does not recognize 'long long' data types" OFF)
     if(LAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG)
       target_compile_definitions(lammps PRIVATE -DLAMMPS_LONGLONG_TO_LONG)
@@ -214,7 +212,7 @@ else()
   else()
     target_link_libraries(lammps PUBLIC mpi_stubs)
   endif()
-  add_library(LAMMPS::MPI ALIAS mpi_stubs)
+  add_library(MPI::MPI_CXX ALIAS mpi_stubs)
 endif()
 
 set(LAMMPS_SIZES "smallbig" CACHE STRING "LAMMPS integer sizes (smallsmall: all 32-bit, smallbig: 64-bit #atoms #timesteps, bigbig: also 64-bit imageint, 64-bit atom ids)")
@@ -488,7 +486,7 @@ if(PKG_USER-ATC)
   if(LAMMPS_SIZES STREQUAL BIGBIG)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "The USER-ATC Package is not compatible with -DLAMMPS_BIGBIG")
   endif()
-  target_link_libraries(atc PRIVATE ${LAPACK_LIBRARIES} LAMMPS::MPI)
+  target_link_libraries(atc PRIVATE ${LAPACK_LIBRARIES} MPI::MPI_CXX)
   target_include_directories(atc PRIVATE ${LAMMPS_SOURCE_DIR})
   target_compile_definitions(atc PRIVATE -DLAMMPS_${LAMMPS_SIZES})
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/MPI4WIN.cmake b/cmake/Modules/MPI4WIN.cmake
index 242440b6f6..19d2d2a13e 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/MPI4WIN.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/MPI4WIN.cmake
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ endif()
 
 ExternalProject_get_property(mpi4win_build SOURCE_DIR)
 file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${SOURCE_DIR}/include")
-add_library(LAMMPS::MPI UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
-set_target_properties(LAMMPS::MPI PROPERTIES
+add_library(MPI::MPI_CXX UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+set_target_properties(MPI::MPI_CXX PROPERTIES
   IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libmpi.a"
   INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SOURCE_DIR}/include"
   INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "MPICH_SKIP_MPICXX")
-add_dependencies(LAMMPS::MPI mpi4win_build)
+add_dependencies(MPI::MPI_CXX mpi4win_build)
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/Packages/GPU.cmake b/cmake/Modules/Packages/GPU.cmake
index a55c9128cb..c288eb0548 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/Packages/GPU.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/Packages/GPU.cmake
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ if(PKG_GPU)
 
     get_property(GPU_SOURCES GLOBAL PROPERTY GPU_SOURCES)
 
-    target_link_libraries(gpu PRIVATE LAMMPS::MPI)
+    target_link_libraries(gpu PRIVATE MPI::MPI_CXX)
     if(BUILD_LIB AND NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
       install(TARGETS gpu EXPORT LAMMPS_Targets LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
     endif()
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/Packages/MESSAGE.cmake b/cmake/Modules/Packages/MESSAGE.cmake
index 5f2fb9dcdc..053865cc8a 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/Packages/MESSAGE.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/Packages/MESSAGE.cmake
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ if(PKG_MESSAGE)
   if(BUILD_MPI)
     target_compile_definitions(cslib PRIVATE -DMPI_YES)
     set_target_properties(cslib PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME "csmpi")
-    target_link_libraries(cslib PRIVATE LAMMPS::MPI)
+    target_link_libraries(cslib PRIVATE MPI::MPI_CXX)
   else()
     target_compile_definitions(cslib PRIVATE -DMPI_NO)
     target_include_directories(cslib PRIVATE ${LAMMPS_LIB_SOURCE_DIR}/message/cslib/src/STUBS_MPI)