diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 7d1b2894c8..bb5072d9dc 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -105,6 +105,11 @@ if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "Intel")
   endif()
 endif()
 
+# silence excessive warnings for PGI/NVHPC compilers
+if((CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "NVHPC") OR (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "PGI"))
+  set(CMAKE_TUNE_DEFAULT "-Minform=severe")
+endif()
+
 # we require C++11 without extensions. Kokkos requires at least C++14 (currently)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
 if(PKG_KOKKOS AND (CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD LESS 14))
@@ -468,6 +473,7 @@ set(CMAKE_TUNE_FLAGS "${CMAKE_TUNE_DEFAULT}" CACHE STRING "Compiler and machine
 separate_arguments(CMAKE_TUNE_FLAGS)
 foreach(_FLAG ${CMAKE_TUNE_FLAGS})
   target_compile_options(lammps PRIVATE ${_FLAG})
+  target_compile_options(lmp PRIVATE ${_FLAG})
 endforeach()
 ########################################################################
 # Basic system tests (standard libraries, headers, functions, types)   #
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/Packages/COLVARS.cmake b/cmake/Modules/Packages/COLVARS.cmake
index 3488aa62b1..da5b685536 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/Packages/COLVARS.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/Packages/COLVARS.cmake
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ endif()
 
 add_library(colvars STATIC ${COLVARS_SOURCES})
 target_compile_definitions(colvars PRIVATE -DCOLVARS_LAMMPS)
+separate_arguments(CMAKE_TUNE_FLAGS)
+foreach(_FLAG ${CMAKE_TUNE_FLAGS})
+  target_compile_options(colvars PRIVATE ${_FLAG})
+endforeach()
 set_target_properties(colvars PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME lammps_colvars${LAMMPS_MACHINE})
 target_include_directories(colvars PUBLIC ${LAMMPS_LIB_SOURCE_DIR}/colvars)
 # The line below is needed to locate math_eigen_impl.h
diff --git a/cmake/presets/pgi.cmake b/cmake/presets/pgi.cmake
index b34cb05331..2b7fee7efa 100644
--- a/cmake/presets/pgi.cmake
+++ b/cmake/presets/pgi.cmake
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# preset that will enable clang/clang++ with support for MPI and OpenMP (on Linux boxes)
+# preset that will enable PGI (Nvidia) compilers with support for MPI and OpenMP (on Linux boxes)
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER "pgc++" CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
 set(CMAKE_C_COMPILER "pgcc" CACHE STRING "" FORCE)
diff --git a/unittest/CMakeLists.txt b/unittest/CMakeLists.txt
index a166ad792a..40ef8204aa 100644
--- a/unittest/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/unittest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ add_library(GTest::GMock ALIAS gmock)
 add_library(GTest::GTestMain ALIAS gtest_main)
 add_library(GTest::GMockMain ALIAS gmock_main)
 
+# import
+foreach(_FLAG ${CMAKE_TUNE_FLAGS})
+  add_compile_options(${_FLAG})
+endforeach()
+
+
 ########################################
 # General tests using the LAMMPS executable itself
 ########################################