diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 557ab02620..e57446ebbf 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -995,11 +995,6 @@ if(CURL_CA_PATH_SET AND NOT USE_OPENSSL AND NOT USE_MBEDTLS)
           "Set CURL_CA_PATH=none or enable one of those TLS backends.")
 endif()
 
-# TODO: offload these headers to the specific tests where they are needed.
-list(APPEND CURL_INCLUDES "string.h")
-list(APPEND CURL_INCLUDES "stdlib.h")
-list(APPEND CURL_INCLUDES "stddef.h")
-
 # Check for header files
 if(NOT UNIX)
   check_include_file_concat("windows.h"      HAVE_WINDOWS_H)
@@ -1044,7 +1039,6 @@ check_include_file_concat("strings.h"        HAVE_STRINGS_H)
 check_include_file_concat("stropts.h"        HAVE_STROPTS_H)
 check_include_file_concat("termio.h"         HAVE_TERMIO_H)
 check_include_file_concat("termios.h"        HAVE_TERMIOS_H)
-check_include_file_concat("time.h"           HAVE_TIME_H)
 check_include_file_concat("unistd.h"         HAVE_UNISTD_H)
 check_include_file_concat("utime.h"          HAVE_UTIME_H)
 
@@ -1082,18 +1076,18 @@ elseif(HAVE_LIBSOCKET)
 endif()
 
 check_symbol_exists(fchmod        "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_FCHMOD)
-check_symbol_exists(basename      "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_BASENAME)
+check_symbol_exists(basename      "${CURL_INCLUDES};string.h" HAVE_BASENAME)
 check_symbol_exists(socket        "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_SOCKET)
 check_symbol_exists(socketpair    "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_SOCKETPAIR)
 check_symbol_exists(recv          "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_RECV)
 check_symbol_exists(send          "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_SEND)
 check_symbol_exists(sendmsg       "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_SENDMSG)
 check_symbol_exists(select        "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_SELECT)
-check_symbol_exists(strdup        "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_STRDUP)
-check_symbol_exists(strtok_r      "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_STRTOK_R)
-check_symbol_exists(strcasecmp    "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_STRCASECMP)
-check_symbol_exists(stricmp       "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_STRICMP)
-check_symbol_exists(strcmpi       "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_STRCMPI)
+check_symbol_exists(strdup        "${CURL_INCLUDES};string.h" HAVE_STRDUP)
+check_symbol_exists(strtok_r      "${CURL_INCLUDES};string.h" HAVE_STRTOK_R)
+check_symbol_exists(strcasecmp    "${CURL_INCLUDES};string.h" HAVE_STRCASECMP)
+check_symbol_exists(stricmp       "${CURL_INCLUDES};string.h" HAVE_STRICMP)
+check_symbol_exists(strcmpi       "${CURL_INCLUDES};string.h" HAVE_STRCMPI)
 check_symbol_exists(alarm         "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_ALARM)
 check_symbol_exists(getppid       "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_GETPPID)
 check_symbol_exists(utimes        "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_UTIMES)
@@ -1106,15 +1100,15 @@ check_symbol_exists(getpwuid      "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_GETPWUID)
 check_symbol_exists(getpwuid_r    "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_GETPWUID_R)
 check_symbol_exists(geteuid       "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_GETEUID)
 check_symbol_exists(utime         "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_UTIME)
-check_symbol_exists(gmtime_r      "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_GMTIME_R)
+check_symbol_exists(gmtime_r      "${CURL_INCLUDES};stdlib.h;time.h" HAVE_GMTIME_R)
 
 check_symbol_exists(gethostbyname_r "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_GETHOSTBYNAME_R)
 
 check_symbol_exists(signal         "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_SIGNAL)
-check_symbol_exists(strtoll        "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_STRTOLL)
-check_symbol_exists(strerror_r     "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_STRERROR_R)
+check_symbol_exists(strtoll        "${CURL_INCLUDES};stdlib.h" HAVE_STRTOLL)
+check_symbol_exists(strerror_r     "${CURL_INCLUDES};stdlib.h;string.h" HAVE_STRERROR_R)
 check_symbol_exists(siginterrupt   "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_SIGINTERRUPT)
-check_symbol_exists(getaddrinfo    "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_GETADDRINFO)
+check_symbol_exists(getaddrinfo    "${CURL_INCLUDES};stdlib.h;string.h" HAVE_GETADDRINFO)
 if(WIN32)
   set(HAVE_GETADDRINFO_THREADSAFE ${HAVE_GETADDRINFO})
 endif()
@@ -1136,11 +1130,11 @@ if(NOT MSVC OR (MSVC_VERSION GREATER_EQUAL 1900))
   check_symbol_exists(snprintf       "stdio.h" HAVE_SNPRINTF)
 endif()
 check_function_exists(mach_absolute_time HAVE_MACH_ABSOLUTE_TIME)
-check_symbol_exists(inet_ntop      "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_INET_NTOP)
+check_symbol_exists(inet_ntop      "${CURL_INCLUDES};stdlib.h;string.h" HAVE_INET_NTOP)
 if(MSVC AND (MSVC_VERSION LESS_EQUAL 1600))
   set(HAVE_INET_NTOP OFF)
 endif()
-check_symbol_exists(inet_pton      "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_INET_PTON)
+check_symbol_exists(inet_pton      "${CURL_INCLUDES};stdlib.h;string.h" HAVE_INET_PTON)
 
 check_symbol_exists(fsetxattr "${CURL_INCLUDES}" HAVE_FSETXATTR)
 if(HAVE_FSETXATTR)