diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 97a172664..89d0bf035 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -348,6 +348,7 @@ if (GFLAGS)
   if (GFLAGS_FOUND)
     message("-- Found Google Flags header in: ${GFLAGS_INCLUDE_DIRS}, "
       "in namespace: ${GFLAGS_NAMESPACE}")
+    add_definitions(-DCERES_GFLAGS_NAMESPACE=${GFLAGS_NAMESPACE})
   else (GFLAGS_FOUND)
     message("-- Did not find Google Flags (gflags), Building without gflags "
       "- no tests or tools will be built!")
@@ -386,6 +387,18 @@ else (MINIGLOG)
       "GLOG_LIBRARY or enable MINIGLOG option to use minimal glog "
       "implementation.")
   endif(NOT GLOG_FOUND)
+  # By default, assume gflags was found, updating the message if it was not.
+  set(GLOG_GFLAGS_DEPENDENCY_MESSAGE
+    " Assuming glog was built with gflags support as gflags was found. "
+    "This will make gflags a public dependency of Ceres.")
+  if (NOT GFLAGS_FOUND)
+    set(GLOG_GFLAGS_DEPENDENCY_MESSAGE
+      " Assuming glog was NOT built with gflags support as gflags was "
+      "not found.  If glog was built with gflags, please set the "
+      "gflags search locations such that it can be found by Ceres.  "
+      "Otherwise, Ceres may fail to link due to missing gflags symbols.")
+  endif(NOT GFLAGS_FOUND)
+  message("-- Found Google Log (glog)." ${GLOG_GFLAGS_DEPENDENCY_MESSAGE})
 endif (MINIGLOG)
 
 if (NOT SCHUR_SPECIALIZATIONS)
diff --git a/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index b589b458c..eef5e5e12 100644
--- a/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -73,11 +73,6 @@ add_executable(simple_bundle_adjuster simple_bundle_adjuster.cc)
 target_link_libraries(simple_bundle_adjuster ceres)
 
 if (GFLAGS)
-  # The CERES_GFLAGS_NAMESPACE compile definition is NOT stored in
-  # CERES_COMPILE_OPTIONS (and thus config.h) as Ceres itself does not
-  # require gflags, only the tests and examples do.
-  add_definitions(-DCERES_GFLAGS_NAMESPACE=${GFLAGS_NAMESPACE})
-
   add_executable(powell powell.cc)
   target_link_libraries(powell ceres ${GFLAGS_LIBRARIES})
 
@@ -115,4 +110,4 @@ if (GFLAGS)
 endif (GFLAGS)
 
 add_subdirectory(sampled_function)
-add_subdirectory(slam)
\ No newline at end of file
+add_subdirectory(slam)
diff --git a/internal/ceres/CMakeLists.txt b/internal/ceres/CMakeLists.txt
index c352e0ef7..bdcbdd117 100644
--- a/internal/ceres/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/internal/ceres/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -132,6 +132,14 @@ endif (SCHUR_SPECIALIZATIONS)
 # Build the list of dependencies for Ceres based on the current configuration.
 if (NOT MINIGLOG AND GLOG_FOUND)
   list(APPEND CERES_LIBRARY_PUBLIC_DEPENDENCIES ${GLOG_LIBRARIES})
+  if (GFLAGS_FOUND)
+    # If glog & gflags are both found, we assume that glog was built with
+    # gflags, as it is awkward to perform a try_compile() to verify this
+    # when gflags is an imported target (as it is in newer versions).
+    # As glog #includes gflags/gflags.h in glog/logging.h if compiled with
+    # gflags, it is thus a public dependency for Ceres in this case.
+    list(APPEND CERES_LIBRARY_PUBLIC_DEPENDENCIES ${GFLAGS_LIBRARIES})
+  endif()
 endif (NOT MINIGLOG AND GLOG_FOUND)
 
 if (SUITESPARSE AND SUITESPARSE_FOUND)
@@ -242,11 +250,6 @@ install(TARGETS ceres
         ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib${LIB_SUFFIX})
 
 if (BUILD_TESTING AND GFLAGS)
-  # The CERES_GFLAGS_NAMESPACE compile definition is NOT stored in
-  # CERES_COMPILE_OPTIONS (and thus config.h) as Ceres itself does not
-  # require gflags, only the tests and examples do.
-  add_definitions(-DCERES_GFLAGS_NAMESPACE=${GFLAGS_NAMESPACE})
-
   add_library(gtest gmock_gtest_all.cc gmock_main.cc)
   if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     # Define gtest-specific shared library flags for compilation.