diff --git a/mlir/cmake/modules/AddMLIR.cmake b/mlir/cmake/modules/AddMLIR.cmake
index bbc5c2a42358..2b12530bda98 100644
--- a/mlir/cmake/modules/AddMLIR.cmake
+++ b/mlir/cmake/modules/AddMLIR.cmake
@@ -495,7 +495,9 @@ function(add_mlir_aggregate name)
   # many other platforms are more strict. We want these libraries to be
   # self contained, and we want any undefined symbols to be reported at
   # library construction time, not at library use, so make Linux strict too.
-  if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux")
+  # We make an exception for sanitizer builds, since the AddressSanitizer
+  # run-time doesn't get linked into shared libraries.
+  if((CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux") AND (NOT LLVM_USE_SANITIZER))
     target_link_options(${name} PRIVATE
       "LINKER:-z,defs"
     )