diff --git a/CMake/Macros.cmake b/CMake/Macros.cmake
index 5e26c38469..f0968736b0 100644
--- a/CMake/Macros.cmake
+++ b/CMake/Macros.cmake
@@ -267,6 +267,10 @@ macro(curl_collect_target_link_options _target)
   get_target_property(_val ${_target} INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES)
   if(_val)
     foreach(_lib IN LISTS _val)
+      # E.g. via libssh2: "$<LINK_ONLY:OpenSSL::Crypto>"
+      if(_lib MATCHES "LINK_ONLY:")
+        string(REGEX MATCH "([A-Za-z0-9_-]+::[A-Za-z0-9_-]+)" _lib "${_lib}")  # Extract imported target name
+      endif()
       if(TARGET "${_lib}")
         curl_collect_target_link_options(${_lib})
       else()
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1c4c137add..331c22dc4f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2211,6 +2211,9 @@ if(NOT CURL_DISABLE_INSTALL)
             list(APPEND LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE "${_lib}")
             list(APPEND LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE_LIST "${_lib}")
           endif()
+        elseif(_lib MATCHES "^-")  # '-option'
+          list(APPEND _ldflags "${_lib}")
+          list(APPEND LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE_LIST "${_lib}")
         else()
           list(APPEND LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE "-l${_lib}")
           list(APPEND LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE_LIST "${_lib}")
@@ -2241,6 +2244,17 @@ if(NOT CURL_DISABLE_INSTALL)
     string(REPLACE ";" "," LIBCURL_PC_REQUIRES_PRIVATE "${LIBCURL_PC_REQUIRES_PRIVATE}")
   endif()
   if(LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE)
+    # Remove duplicates listed next to each other
+    set(_libs "")
+    set(_prev "")
+    foreach(_lib IN LISTS LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE)
+      if(NOT _prev STREQUAL _lib)
+        list(APPEND _libs "${_lib}")
+        set(_prev "${_lib}")
+      endif()
+    endforeach()
+    set(LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE "${_libs}")
+
     string(REPLACE ";" " " LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE "${LIBCURL_PC_LIBS_PRIVATE}")
   endif()
   if(_ldflags)