diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1d1d8d585ae4..e0734b0534ab 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -316,7 +316,6 @@ if(WIN32 AND (MINGW OR CYGWIN))
 endif()
 
 if(BUILD_FOR_R)
-    TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(lightgbm ${LIBR_CORE_LIBRARY})
     TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(_lightgbm ${LIBR_CORE_LIBRARY})
 endif(BUILD_FOR_R)