diff --git a/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.cxx b/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.cxx
index 7ea58fa87..3f5912919 100644
--- a/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.cxx
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ bool cmGeneratorExpression::IsValidTargetName(const std::string &input)
   cmsys::RegularExpression targetNameValidator;
   // The ':' is supported to allow use with IMPORTED targets. At least
   // Qt 4 and 5 IMPORTED targets use ':' as the namespace delimiter.
-  targetNameValidator.compile("^[A-Za-z0-9_.:-]+$");
+  targetNameValidator.compile("^[A-Za-z0-9_.:+-]+$");
 
   return targetNameValidator.find(input.c_str());
 }
diff --git a/Source/cmTarget.cxx b/Source/cmTarget.cxx
index f38b16e59..d46325b5c 100644
--- a/Source/cmTarget.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmTarget.cxx
@@ -2898,7 +2898,8 @@ std::vector<std::string> cmTarget::GetIncludeDirectories(const char *config)
                                                         ge.Parse(it->Value);
       std::string result = cge->Evaluate(this->Makefile, config,
                                         false, this, 0, 0);
-      if (!this->Makefile->FindTargetToUse(result.c_str()))
+      if (!cmGeneratorExpression::IsValidTargetName(result.c_str())
+          || !this->Makefile->FindTargetToUse(result.c_str()))
         {
         continue;
         }
@@ -2975,7 +2976,9 @@ std::string cmTarget::GetCompileDefinitions(const char *config)
   for (std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator it = libs.begin();
       it != libs.end(); ++it)
     {
-    if (this->Makefile->FindTargetToUse(it->c_str()))
+    if ((cmGeneratorExpression::IsValidTargetName(it->c_str())
+          || cmGeneratorExpression::Find(it->c_str()) != std::string::npos)
+        && this->Makefile->FindTargetToUse(it->c_str()))
       {
       depString += sep + "$<TARGET_PROPERTY:"
                 + *it + ",INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS>";
diff --git a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/CMakeLists.txt
index b13c13d05..388164455 100644
--- a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -102,7 +102,14 @@ target_compile_definitions(depG INTERFACE
     TEST_DEF
 )
 
+
 add_executable(targetC targetC.cpp)
+if(NOT BORLAND AND NOT WATCOM)
+  # Linking to a target containing a + should be non-fatal, though it does
+  # not work at all on Borland or watcom
+  add_library(wrapc++ empty.cpp)
+  target_link_libraries(targetC wrapc++)
+endif()
 # The TARGET_PROPERTY expression is duplicated below to test that there is no
 # shortcutting of the evaluation by returning an empty string.
 set(_exe_test $<STREQUAL:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:TYPE>,EXECUTABLE>)
diff --git a/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/empty.cpp b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/empty.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ab32cf6c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/CMakeCommands/target_link_libraries/empty.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+// No content