diff --git a/src/plugins/clangformat/CMakeLists.txt b/src/plugins/clangformat/CMakeLists.txt
index dbeaed94888..f2eff70c581 100644
--- a/src/plugins/clangformat/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/plugins/clangformat/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 add_qtc_plugin(ClangFormat
   CONDITION TARGET libclang AND LLVM_PACKAGE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 10.0.0 AND (QTC_CLANG_BUILDMODE_MATCH OR CLANGTOOLING_LINK_CLANG_DYLIB)
   DEPENDS Utils Qt5::Widgets ${CLANG_FORMAT_LIB}
-  INCLUDES "${CLANG_INCLUDE_DIRS}"
   PLUGIN_DEPENDS Core TextEditor CppEditor ProjectExplorer
   SOURCES
     clangformatbaseindenter.cpp clangformatbaseindenter.h
@@ -15,6 +14,11 @@ add_qtc_plugin(ClangFormat
     clangformatutils.cpp clangformatutils.h
 )
 
+if(TARGET ClangFormat)
+  # "system" includes, so warnings are ignored
+  target_include_directories(ClangFormat SYSTEM PRIVATE "${CLANG_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
+endif()
+
 if(MSVC AND TARGET ClangFormat)
   target_compile_options(ClangFormat PUBLIC /wd4267 /wd4624)
 endif()