diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9be38edd0851f3952b5328bf5c447da880ac368a..8fbb0f5d3f16c381e8f382eee2be07d730700c5d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -130,26 +130,6 @@ IF(CASADI_FOUND AND BUILD_WITH_CASADI_SUPPORT)
   PKG_CONFIG_APPEND_CFLAGS("-DPINOCCHIO_WITH_CASADI_SUPPORT")
 ENDIF(CASADI_FOUND AND BUILD_WITH_CASADI_SUPPORT)
 
-# Special care of urdfdom version
-IF(BUILD_WITH_URDF_SUPPORT)
-  IF(${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "0.3.0")
-    ADD_DEFINITIONS(-DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_COLLISION_WITH_GROUP_NAME)
-    PKG_CONFIG_APPEND_CFLAGS("-DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_COLLISION_WITH_GROUP_NAME")
-  ENDIF(${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "0.3.0")
-
-  # defines types from version 0.4.0
-  IF(NOT ${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "0.4.0")
-    ADD_DEFINITIONS(-DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_TYPEDEF_SHARED_PTR)
-    PKG_CONFIG_APPEND_CFLAGS("-DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_TYPEDEF_SHARED_PTR")
-  ENDIF(NOT ${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "0.4.0")
-  
-  # std::shared_ptr appears from version 1.0.0
-  IF(${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_GREATER "0.4.2")
-    ADD_DEFINITIONS(-DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_USE_STD_SHARED_PTR)
-    PKG_CONFIG_APPEND_CFLAGS("-DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_USE_STD_SHARED_PTR")
-  ENDIF(${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_GREATER "0.4.2")
-ENDIF(BUILD_WITH_URDF_SUPPORT)
-
 SET(BOOST_REQUIRED_COMPONENTS filesystem serialization system)
 SET(BOOST_BUILD_COMPONENTS unit_test_framework)
 SET(BOOST_OPTIONAL_COMPONENTS "")
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index af42c2b00fafb5de54c777d5a7d5e47108ce4e0e..79ddd9c8308e837e7294d922dadb61cf5a255bfc 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,7 +26,22 @@ IF(UNIX)
     PKG_CONFIG_USE_DEPENDENCY(${PROJECT_NAME} eigen3)
     TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC ${Boost_FILESYSTEM_LIBRARY} ${Boost_SYSTEM_LIBRARY} ${Boost_SERIALIZATION_LIBRARY})
 
+    # Special care of urdfdom version
     IF(URDFDOM_FOUND)
+      IF(${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "0.3.0")
+        TARGET_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE -DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_COLLISION_WITH_GROUP_NAME)
+      ENDIF(${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "0.3.0")
+
+      # defines types from version 0.4.0
+      IF(NOT ${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "0.4.0")
+        TARGET_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE -DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_TYPEDEF_SHARED_PTR)
+      ENDIF(NOT ${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "0.4.0")
+
+      # std::shared_ptr appears from version 1.0.0
+      IF(${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_GREATER "0.4.2")
+        TARGET_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE -DPINOCCHIO_URDFDOM_USE_STD_SHARED_PTR)
+      ENDIF(${URDFDOM_VERSION} VERSION_GREATER "0.4.2")
+
       PKG_CONFIG_USE_DEPENDENCY(${PROJECT_NAME} urdfdom)
     ENDIF(URDFDOM_FOUND)