diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 91f4ee23119..3595154f7ae 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
     add_subdirectory(externals/tinyxml2)
 endif()
 add_subdirectory(externals/simplecpp)
+add_subdirectory(externals/picojson)
 add_subdirectory(lib)   # CppCheck Library
 add_subdirectory(frontend)
 add_subdirectory(cli)   # Client application
diff --git a/cli/CMakeLists.txt b/cli/CMakeLists.txt
index 8ea47196350..2664a29a65d 100644
--- a/cli/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cli/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,54 +1,29 @@
-if (BUILD_CLI)
 
-    file(GLOB hdrs "*.h")
-    file(GLOB srcs "*.cpp")
-    file(GLOB mainfile "main.cpp")
-    list(REMOVE_ITEM srcs ${mainfile})
+file(GLOB hdrs "*.h")
+file(GLOB srcs "*.cpp")
+file(GLOB mainfile "main.cpp")
+list(REMOVE_ITEM srcs ${mainfile})
 
-    add_library(cli_objs OBJECT ${hdrs} ${srcs})
-    target_include_directories(cli_objs PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/ ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/frontend/)
-    if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-        target_externals_include_directories(cli_objs PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/tinyxml2/)
-    else()
-        target_include_directories(cli_objs SYSTEM PRIVATE ${tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-    endif()
-    target_externals_include_directories(cli_objs PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/picojson/)
-    target_externals_include_directories(cli_objs PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/simplecpp/)
-    if (NOT CMAKE_DISABLE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS)
-        target_precompile_headers(cli_objs PRIVATE precompiled.h)
-    endif()
-    if (BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-        target_compile_definitions(cli_objs PRIVATE CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT TINYXML2_IMPORT)
-    endif()
+add_library(cli ${hdrs} ${srcs})
+target_include_directories(cli PUBLIC .)
+target_link_libraries(cli PRIVATE cppcheck-core frontend tinyxml2 simplecpp picojson)
+if (NOT CMAKE_DISABLE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS)
+    target_precompile_headers(cli PRIVATE precompiled.h)
+endif()
 
-    if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang" AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 13)
-        # false positive warning in Clang 13 - caused by FD_ZERO macro
-        set_source_files_properties(processexecutor.cpp PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS -Wno-reserved-identifier)
-    endif()
+if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang" AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 13)
+    # false positive warning in Clang 13 - caused by FD_ZERO macro
+    set_source_files_properties(processexecutor.cpp PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS -Wno-reserved-identifier)
+endif()
 
-    list(APPEND cppcheck_SOURCES ${hdrs} ${mainfile} $<TARGET_OBJECTS:cli_objs> $<TARGET_OBJECTS:frontend_objs>)
-    if (NOT BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-        list(APPEND cppcheck_SOURCES $<TARGET_OBJECTS:cppcheck-core>)
-        list(APPEND cppcheck_SOURCES $<TARGET_OBJECTS:simplecpp_objs>)
-        if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-            list(APPEND cppcheck_SOURCES $<TARGET_OBJECTS:tinyxml2_objs>)
-        endif()
-    endif()
+if (BUILD_CLI)
+    list(APPEND cppcheck_SOURCES ${hdrs} ${mainfile})
     if (WIN32)
         list(APPEND cppcheck_SOURCES version.rc)
     endif()
 
     add_executable(cppcheck ${cppcheck_SOURCES})
-    target_include_directories(cppcheck PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/)
-    if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-        target_externals_include_directories(cppcheck PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/tinyxml2/)
-    else()
-        target_include_directories(cppcheck SYSTEM PRIVATE ${tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-    endif()
-    target_externals_include_directories(cppcheck PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/simplecpp/)
-    if (HAVE_RULES)
-        target_link_libraries(cppcheck ${PCRE_LIBRARY})
-    endif()
+    target_link_libraries(cppcheck cppcheck-core cli tinyxml2 simplecpp)
     if (WIN32 AND NOT BORLAND)
         if(NOT MINGW)
             target_link_libraries(cppcheck Shlwapi.lib)
@@ -56,13 +31,7 @@ if (BUILD_CLI)
             target_link_libraries(cppcheck shlwapi)
         endif()
     endif()
-    if(tinyxml2_FOUND AND NOT USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-        target_link_libraries(cppcheck ${tinyxml2_LIBRARIES})
-    endif()
     target_link_libraries(cppcheck ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
-    if (BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-        target_link_libraries(cppcheck cppcheck-core)
-    endif()
 
     add_dependencies(cppcheck copy_cfg)
     add_dependencies(cppcheck copy_addons)
diff --git a/cmake/compileroptions.cmake b/cmake/compileroptions.cmake
index 91fb5ca9435..4112ddd2418 100644
--- a/cmake/compileroptions.cmake
+++ b/cmake/compileroptions.cmake
@@ -24,6 +24,28 @@ function(target_externals_include_directories TARGET)
     endif()
 endfunction()
 
+function(target_dll_compile_definitions TARGET)
+    set(options)
+    set(oneValueArgs IMPORT EXPORT)
+    set(multiValueArgs)
+
+    cmake_parse_arguments(PARSE "${options}" "${oneValueArgs}" "${multiValueArgs}" ${ARGN})
+    if(PARSE_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS)
+        message(
+            FATAL_ERROR "Unknown keywords given to target_dll_compile_definitions(): \"${PARSE_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS}\"")
+    endif()
+
+
+    if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS AND MSVC)
+        if(PARSE_EXPORT)
+            target_compile_definitions(${TARGET} PRIVATE ${PARSE_EXPORT})
+        endif()
+        if(PARSE_IMPORT)
+            target_compile_definitions(${TARGET} INTERFACE ${PARSE_IMPORT})
+        endif()
+    endif()
+endfunction()
+
 if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
     add_compile_options(-Weverything)
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/findDependencies.cmake b/cmake/findDependencies.cmake
index fb59a289aac..3fffa420a5e 100644
--- a/cmake/findDependencies.cmake
+++ b/cmake/findDependencies.cmake
@@ -61,10 +61,10 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 if(NOT USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
+    add_library(tinyxml2 INTERFACE)
     find_package(tinyxml2 QUIET)
     if(TARGET tinyxml2::tinyxml2)
-        set(tinyxml2_LIBRARIES "tinyxml2::tinyxml2")
-        set(tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS $<TARGET_PROPERTY:tinyxml2::tinyxml2,INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES>)
+        target_link_libraries(tinyxml2 INTERFACE tinyxml2::tinyxml2)
     else()
         find_library(tinyxml2_LIBRARIES tinyxml2)
         find_path(tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS tinyxml2.h)
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ if(NOT USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
         else()
             set(tinyxml2_FOUND 1)
         endif()
+        target_link_libraries(tinyxml2 INTERFACE ${tinyxml2_LIBRARIES})
+        target_include_directories(tinyxml2 INTERFACE ${tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
     endif()
 endif()
 
diff --git a/externals/picojson/CMakeLists.txt b/externals/picojson/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..937a89c12b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/externals/picojson/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+
+add_library(picojson INTERFACE)
+target_externals_include_directories(picojson INTERFACE .)
+
diff --git a/externals/simplecpp/CMakeLists.txt b/externals/simplecpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 18430fea55e..50f139739a7 100644
--- a/externals/simplecpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/externals/simplecpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 file(GLOB hdrs "*.h")
 file(GLOB srcs "*.cpp")
 
-add_library(simplecpp_objs OBJECT ${srcs} ${hdrs})
-if (BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-    target_compile_definitions(simplecpp_objs PRIVATE SIMPLECPP_EXPORT)
-endif()
+add_library(simplecpp ${srcs} ${hdrs})
+target_dll_compile_definitions(simplecpp EXPORT SIMPLECPP_EXPORT IMPORT SIMPLECPP_IMPORT)
 
 if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
-    target_compile_options_safe(simplecpp_objs -Wno-zero-as-null-pointer-constant)
+    target_compile_options_safe(simplecpp -Wno-zero-as-null-pointer-constant)
 endif()
+
+target_externals_include_directories(simplecpp PUBLIC .)
diff --git a/externals/tinyxml2/CMakeLists.txt b/externals/tinyxml2/CMakeLists.txt
index f1e7adaa01a..9f15c558682 100644
--- a/externals/tinyxml2/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/externals/tinyxml2/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,24 +1,24 @@
 file(GLOB hdrs "*.h")
 file(GLOB srcs "*.cpp")
 
-add_library(tinyxml2_objs OBJECT ${srcs} ${hdrs})
-if (BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-    target_compile_definitions(tinyxml2_objs PRIVATE TINYXML2_EXPORT)
-endif()
+add_library(tinyxml2 ${srcs} ${hdrs})
+target_dll_compile_definitions(tinyxml2 EXPORT TINYXML2_EXPORT IMPORT TINYXML2_IMPORT)
 
 # TODO: needs to be fixed upstream
 if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
-    target_compile_options(tinyxml2_objs PRIVATE -Wno-suggest-attribute=format)
-    target_compile_options(tinyxml2_objs PRIVATE -Wno-useless-cast)
+    target_compile_options(tinyxml2 PRIVATE -Wno-suggest-attribute=format)
+    target_compile_options(tinyxml2 PRIVATE -Wno-useless-cast)
 endif()
 if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
-    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2_objs -Wno-implicit-fallthrough)
-    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2_objs -Wno-suggest-destructor-override)
-    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2_objs -Wno-zero-as-null-pointer-constant)
-    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2_objs -Wno-format-nonliteral)
-    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2_objs -Wno-inconsistent-missing-destructor-override)
+    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2 -Wno-implicit-fallthrough)
+    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2 -Wno-suggest-destructor-override)
+    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2 -Wno-zero-as-null-pointer-constant)
+    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2 -Wno-format-nonliteral)
+    target_compile_options_safe(tinyxml2 -Wno-inconsistent-missing-destructor-override)
 endif()
 if(CYGWIN)
     target_compile_definitions(-D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE)  # required for fseeko() and ftello()
 endif()
 
+target_externals_include_directories(tinyxml2 PUBLIC .)
+
diff --git a/frontend/CMakeLists.txt b/frontend/CMakeLists.txt
index e5e64bfe85b..17d10bb4f00 100644
--- a/frontend/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/frontend/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 file(GLOB hdrs "*.h")
 file(GLOB srcs "*.cpp")
 
-add_library(frontend_objs OBJECT ${hdrs} ${srcs})
-target_include_directories(frontend_objs PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/lib)
\ No newline at end of file
+add_library(frontend ${hdrs} ${srcs})
+target_include_directories(frontend PUBLIC .)
+target_link_libraries(frontend PRIVATE cppcheck-core)
diff --git a/gui/CMakeLists.txt b/gui/CMakeLists.txt
index 6f4e9420bd8..ff329ad1163 100644
--- a/gui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/gui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,44 +20,26 @@ CheckOptions:
     list(APPEND cppcheck-gui-deps ${hdrs} ${uis_hdrs} ${resources} ${qms})
     add_custom_target(gui-build-deps SOURCES ${cppcheck-gui-deps})
 
-    list(APPEND cppcheck-gui_SOURCES ${srcs} $<TARGET_OBJECTS:frontend_objs>)
-    if (NOT BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-        list(APPEND cppcheck-gui_SOURCES $<TARGET_OBJECTS:cppcheck-core> $<TARGET_OBJECTS:simplecpp_objs>)
-        if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-            list(APPEND cppcheck-gui_SOURCES $<TARGET_OBJECTS:tinyxml2_objs>)
-        endif()
-    endif()
+    list(APPEND cppcheck-gui_SOURCES ${srcs})
     if (WIN32)
         list(APPEND cppcheck-gui_SOURCES cppcheck-gui.rc)
     endif()
 
     add_executable(cppcheck-gui ${cppcheck-gui-deps} ${cppcheck-gui_SOURCES})
+    target_link_libraries(cppcheck-gui cppcheck-core simplecpp tinyxml2 picojson frontend)
+
     set_target_properties(cppcheck-gui PROPERTIES AUTOMOC ON)
     set_target_properties(cppcheck-gui PROPERTIES WIN32_EXECUTABLE ON)
-    target_include_directories(cppcheck-gui PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/ ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/frontend/)
-    if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-        target_externals_include_directories(cppcheck-gui PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/tinyxml2/)
-    else()
-        target_include_directories(cppcheck-gui SYSTEM PRIVATE ${tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-    endif()
-    target_include_directories(cppcheck-gui PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/picojson/)
     if (NOT CMAKE_DISABLE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS)
         target_precompile_headers(cppcheck-gui PRIVATE precompiled.h)
     endif()
     if (HAVE_RULES)
         target_link_libraries(cppcheck-gui ${PCRE_LIBRARY})
     endif()
-    if(tinyxml2_FOUND AND NOT USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-        target_link_libraries(cppcheck-gui ${tinyxml2_LIBRARIES})
-    endif()
     target_link_libraries(cppcheck-gui ${QT_CORE_LIB} ${QT_GUI_LIB} ${QT_WIDGETS_LIB} ${QT_PRINTSUPPORT_LIB} ${QT_HELP_LIB} ${QT_NETWORK_LIB})
     if(WITH_QCHART)
         target_link_libraries(cppcheck-gui ${QT_CHARTS_LIB})
     endif()
-    if (BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-        target_compile_definitions(cppcheck-gui PRIVATE CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT TINYXML2_IMPORT)
-        target_link_libraries(cppcheck-gui cppcheck-core)
-    endif()
     if(MSVC)
         # compilation will fail as e.g. QList::realloc would be replaced by MSVC's macro definition
         target_compile_definitions(cppcheck-gui PRIVATE $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:DISABLE_CRTDBG_MAP_ALLOC>)
diff --git a/gui/test/filelist/CMakeLists.txt b/gui/test/filelist/CMakeLists.txt
index 9ffef5da4f9..4af40a1c876 100644
--- a/gui/test/filelist/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/gui/test/filelist/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,15 +5,10 @@ add_executable(test-filelist
         ${test-filelist_SRC}
         testfilelist.cpp
         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui/filelist.cpp
-        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/pathmatch.cpp
-        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/path.cpp
-        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/utils.cpp
-        $<TARGET_OBJECTS:simplecpp_objs>
         )
-target_include_directories(test-filelist PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib)
-target_externals_include_directories(test-filelist PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/simplecpp)
+target_include_directories(test-filelist PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui)
 target_compile_definitions(test-filelist PRIVATE SRCDIR="${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
-target_link_libraries(test-filelist ${QT_CORE_LIB} ${QT_TEST_LIB})
+target_link_libraries(test-filelist ${QT_CORE_LIB} ${QT_TEST_LIB} cppcheck-core simplecpp)
 
 if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
     if(QT_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "6.9.0")
@@ -26,4 +21,4 @@ if (REGISTER_GUI_TESTS)
     add_test(NAME test-filelist COMMAND $<TARGET_FILE:test-filelist>)
 endif()
 
-add_dependencies(gui-tests test-filelist)
\ No newline at end of file
+add_dependencies(gui-tests test-filelist)
diff --git a/gui/test/resultstree/CMakeLists.txt b/gui/test/resultstree/CMakeLists.txt
index a39809e2ebc..288011c77e0 100644
--- a/gui/test/resultstree/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/gui/test/resultstree/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,10 +6,6 @@ qt_wrap_cpp(test-resultstree_SRC
         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui/threadhandler.h
         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui/threadresult.h
 )
-if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-    list(APPEND test-resultstree_SRC $<TARGET_OBJECTS:tinyxml2_objs>)
-endif()
-list(APPEND test-resultstree_SRC $<TARGET_OBJECTS:simplecpp_objs> $<TARGET_OBJECTS:cppcheck-core>)
 add_custom_target(build-resultstree-deps SOURCES ${test-resultstree_SRC})
 add_dependencies(gui-build-deps build-resultstree-deps)
 add_executable(test-resultstree
@@ -21,22 +17,14 @@ add_executable(test-resultstree
         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui/report.cpp
         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui/xmlreportv2.cpp
         )
-target_include_directories(test-resultstree PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib)
-target_externals_include_directories(test-resultstree PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/simplecpp)
-if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-    target_externals_include_directories(test-resultstree PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/tinyxml2/)
-else()
-    target_include_directories(test-resultstree SYSTEM PRIVATE ${tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-endif()
+target_include_directories(test-resultstree PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui)
+target_link_libraries(test-resultstree cppcheck-core simplecpp tinyxml2)
 if (HAVE_RULES)
     target_link_libraries(test-resultstree ${PCRE_LIBRARY})
     target_include_directories(test-resultstree SYSTEM PRIVATE ${PCRE_INCLUDE})
 endif()
 target_compile_definitions(test-resultstree PRIVATE SRCDIR="${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
 target_link_libraries(test-resultstree ${QT_CORE_LIB} ${QT_GUI_LIB} ${QT_WIDGETS_LIB} ${QT_TEST_LIB})
-if(tinyxml2_FOUND AND NOT USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-    target_link_libraries(test-resultstree ${tinyxml2_LIBRARIES})
-endif()
 
 if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
     if(QT_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "6.9.0")
@@ -52,6 +40,12 @@ elseif (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
     target_compile_options_safe(test-resultstree -Wno-suggest-attribute=noreturn)
 endif()
 
+if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
+    # caused by mocks
+    target_compile_options_safe(test-resultstree -Wno-suggest-attribute=noreturn)
+endif()
+
+
 if (REGISTER_GUI_TESTS)
     # TODO: might crash - see #13223
     #add_test(NAME test-resultstree COMMAND $<TARGET_FILE:test-resultstree> -platform offscreen)
diff --git a/gui/test/xmlreportv2/CMakeLists.txt b/gui/test/xmlreportv2/CMakeLists.txt
index 7725615d1f7..fde9da7d0db 100644
--- a/gui/test/xmlreportv2/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/gui/test/xmlreportv2/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,6 @@
 qt_wrap_cpp(test-xmlreportv2_SRC testxmlreportv2.h)
 add_custom_target(build-xmlreportv2-deps SOURCES ${test-xmlreportv2_SRC})
 add_dependencies(gui-build-deps build-xmlreportv2-deps)
-if (NOT BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-    list(APPEND test-xmlreportv2_SRC $<TARGET_OBJECTS:cppcheck-core> $<TARGET_OBJECTS:simplecpp_objs>)
-    if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-        list(APPEND test-xmlreportv2_SRC $<TARGET_OBJECTS:tinyxml2_objs>)
-    endif()
-endif()
 add_executable(test-xmlreportv2
         ${test-xmlreportv2_SRC}
         testxmlreportv2.cpp
@@ -15,19 +9,9 @@ add_executable(test-xmlreportv2
         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui/xmlreport.cpp
         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui/xmlreportv2.cpp
         )
-target_include_directories(test-xmlreportv2 PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib)
+target_include_directories(test-xmlreportv2 PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/gui)
 target_compile_definitions(test-xmlreportv2 PRIVATE SRCDIR="${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
-target_link_libraries(test-xmlreportv2 ${QT_CORE_LIB} ${QT_TEST_LIB})
-if (HAVE_RULES)
-    target_link_libraries(test-xmlreportv2 ${PCRE_LIBRARY})
-endif()
-if(tinyxml2_FOUND AND NOT USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-    target_link_libraries(test-xmlreportv2 ${tinyxml2_LIBRARIES})
-endif()
-if (BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-    target_compile_definitions(test-xmlreportv2 PRIVATE CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT TINYXML2_IMPORT)
-    target_link_libraries(test-xmlreportv2 cppcheck-core)
-endif()
+target_link_libraries(test-xmlreportv2 ${QT_CORE_LIB} ${QT_TEST_LIB} cppcheck-core)
 if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
     if(QT_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "6.9.0")
         # caused by Qt generated moc code starting with 6.9.0 - see https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-135638
diff --git a/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
index 7a884164761..d7a94de352e 100644
--- a/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -37,25 +37,26 @@ else()
     set(srcs_lib ${srcs})
 endif()
 
-if (BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-    add_library(cppcheck-core SHARED ${srcs_lib} ${hdrs} $<TARGET_OBJECTS:tinyxml2_objs> $<TARGET_OBJECTS:simplecpp_objs> version.rc)
-    target_compile_definitions(cppcheck-core PRIVATE CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT TINYXML2_EXPORT SIMPLECPP_EXPORT)
+if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
+    add_library(cppcheck-core ${srcs_lib} ${hdrs})
 else()
+    # A OBJECT library is used because the auto-registration doesn't work with static libraries
     add_library(cppcheck-core OBJECT ${srcs_lib} ${hdrs})
 endif()
-target_externals_include_directories(cppcheck-core PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/)
-if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-    target_externals_include_directories(cppcheck-core PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/tinyxml2/)
-else()
-    target_include_directories(cppcheck-core SYSTEM PRIVATE ${tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS AND MSVC)
+    target_sources(cppcheck-core PRIVATE version.rc)
 endif()
-target_externals_include_directories(cppcheck-core PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/picojson/)
-target_externals_include_directories(cppcheck-core PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/simplecpp/)
+
+target_dll_compile_definitions(cppcheck-core EXPORT CPPCHECKLIB_EXPORT IMPORT CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT)
+
+target_include_directories(cppcheck-core PUBLIC .)
+target_link_libraries(cppcheck-core PRIVATE tinyxml2 simplecpp picojson ${PCRE_LIBRARY})
+
 if (HAVE_RULES)
     target_include_directories(cppcheck-core SYSTEM PRIVATE ${PCRE_INCLUDE})
 endif()
 if (Boost_FOUND)
-    target_include_directories(cppcheck-core SYSTEM PRIVATE ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+    target_include_directories(cppcheck-core SYSTEM PUBLIC ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 endif()
 
 if (NOT CMAKE_DISABLE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS)
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 0bbcea9d8a9..a31ab810dfe 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,28 +4,10 @@ if (BUILD_TESTS)
 
     file(GLOB hdrs "*.h")
     file(GLOB srcs "*.cpp")
-    list(APPEND testrunner_SOURCES ${hdrs} ${srcs} $<TARGET_OBJECTS:cli_objs> $<TARGET_OBJECTS:frontend_objs>)
-    if (NOT BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-        list(APPEND testrunner_SOURCES $<TARGET_OBJECTS:cppcheck-core> $<TARGET_OBJECTS:simplecpp_objs>)
-        if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-            list(APPEND testrunner_SOURCES $<TARGET_OBJECTS:tinyxml2_objs>)
-        endif()
-    endif()
+    list(APPEND testrunner_SOURCES ${hdrs} ${srcs})
 
     add_executable(testrunner ${testrunner_SOURCES})
-    target_include_directories(testrunner PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/ ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cli/ ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/frontend/)
-    if(USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-        target_externals_include_directories(testrunner PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/tinyxml2)
-    else()
-        target_include_directories(testrunner SYSTEM PRIVATE ${tinyxml2_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-    endif()
-    target_externals_include_directories(testrunner PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/simplecpp/)
-    if (Boost_FOUND)
-        target_include_directories(testrunner SYSTEM PRIVATE ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-    endif()
-    if (HAVE_RULES)
-        target_link_libraries(testrunner ${PCRE_LIBRARY})
-    endif()
+    target_link_libraries(testrunner cppcheck-core tinyxml2 simplecpp frontend cli)
     if (WIN32 AND NOT BORLAND)
         if(NOT MINGW)
             target_link_libraries(testrunner Shlwapi.lib)
@@ -33,14 +15,7 @@ if (BUILD_TESTS)
             target_link_libraries(testrunner shlwapi)
         endif()
     endif()
-    if(tinyxml2_FOUND AND NOT USE_BUNDLED_TINYXML2)
-        target_link_libraries(testrunner ${tinyxml2_LIBRARIES})
-    endif()
     target_link_libraries(testrunner ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
-    if (BUILD_CORE_DLL)
-        target_compile_definitions(testrunner PRIVATE CPPCHECKLIB_IMPORT SIMPLECPP_IMPORT)
-        target_link_libraries(testrunner cppcheck-core)
-    endif()
     if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "GNU")
         # (void) in ASSERT_THROW* macros might trigger this
         target_compile_options_safe(testrunner -Wno-useless-cast)
diff --git a/tools/dmake/CMakeLists.txt b/tools/dmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 5af693eb179..cbe7040ef2f 100644
--- a/tools/dmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tools/dmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,23 +1,8 @@
-# TODO: when using ccache and matchcompiler this will accessed before the file was generated and thus the build fails
-set(srcs_lib pathmatch.cpp path.cpp utils.cpp)
-foreach(file ${srcs_lib})
-    if (NOT USE_MATCHCOMPILER_OPT STREQUAL "Off")
-        set(src "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib/build/mc_${file}")
-        set_source_files_properties(${src} PROPERTIES GENERATED TRUE)
-    else()
-        set(src "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/${file}")
-    endif()
-    set(srcs_tools ${srcs_tools} ${src})
-endforeach()
 
 add_executable(dmake EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
         dmake.cpp
-        ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cli/filelister.cpp
-        ${srcs_tools}
-        $<TARGET_OBJECTS:simplecpp_objs>
 )
-target_include_directories(dmake PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cli ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib)
-target_externals_include_directories(dmake PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/externals/simplecpp)
+target_link_libraries(dmake cppcheck-core cli simplecpp)
 if (WIN32 AND NOT BORLAND)
     if(NOT MINGW)
         target_link_libraries(dmake Shlwapi.lib)