diff --git a/external/leveldb/CMakeLists-leveldb.txt b/external/leveldb/CMakeLists-leveldb.txt
index e1a9e33cc..0c51fc405 100644
--- a/external/leveldb/CMakeLists-leveldb.txt
+++ b/external/leveldb/CMakeLists-leveldb.txt
@@ -247,7 +247,10 @@ endif(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
 if(HAVE_CLANG_THREAD_SAFETY)
   target_compile_options(leveldb
     PUBLIC
-      -Werror -Wthread-safety)
+      -Wthread-safety
+    PRIVATE
+      -Werror
+  )
 endif(HAVE_CLANG_THREAD_SAFETY)
 
 if(HAVE_CRC32C)