diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 0d90174c897..5c05a58b448 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ if(NOT TARGET CUDA::cuda_driver)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Building libcudf requires `libcuda.so` to be present.
         This error often occurs when trying to build libcudf from a container without the NVIDIA runtime loaded.")
 endif()
-target_link_libraries(cudf PRIVATE CUDA::cuda_driver)
+target_link_libraries(cudf PUBLIC CUDA::cuda_driver)
 
 # Add cuFile interface if available
 if(TARGET cuFile::cuFile_interface)