diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5b2427d4f3..e60fbd5b84 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -680,10 +680,8 @@ if(NOT CURL_DISABLE_LDAP)
   if(WIN32)
     option(USE_WIN32_LDAP "Use Windows LDAP implementation" ON)
     if(USE_WIN32_LDAP)
-      check_library_exists_concat("wldap32" cldap_open HAVE_WLDAP32)
-      if(NOT HAVE_WLDAP32)
-        set(USE_WIN32_LDAP OFF)
-      elseif(NOT CURL_DISABLE_LDAPS)
+      list(APPEND CURL_LIBS "wldap32")
+      if(NOT CURL_DISABLE_LDAPS)
         set(HAVE_LDAP_SSL ON)
       endif()
     endif()