diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 1343b654e2..faf9387129 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -439,12 +439,13 @@ include_directories(${LEAN_SOURCE_DIR})
 include_directories(${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})  # version.h etc., "private" headers
 include_directories(${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include)  # config.h etc., "public" headers
 
+# Use CMake profile C++ flags for building Lean libraries, but do not embed in `leanc`
 string(TOUPPER "${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}" uppercase_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE)
-# These are used in lean.mk (and libleanrt) and passed through by stdlib.make
-# They are not embedded into `leanc` since they are build profile/machine specific
 string(APPEND LEANC_OPTS " ${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_${uppercase_CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}}")
+
+# Do embed flag for finding system libraries in dev builds
 if(CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT AND NOT LEAN_STANDALONE)
-  string(APPEND LEANC_OPTS " ${CMAKE_CXX_SYSROOT_FLAG}${CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT}")
+  string(APPEND LEANC_EXTRA_FLAGS " ${CMAKE_CXX_SYSROOT_FLAG}${CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT}")
 endif()
 
 if(${STAGE} GREATER 1)