diff --git a/llvm/runtimes/CMakeLists.txt b/llvm/runtimes/CMakeLists.txt
index 839929204c064..6f98eaee241bc 100644
--- a/llvm/runtimes/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/llvm/runtimes/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -507,10 +507,14 @@ if(build_runtimes)
   endif()
 
   # Forward user-provived system configuration to runtimes for requirement introspection.
-  # CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH is the search path for CMake packages.
+  # CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH is the search path for CMake packages. In order to pass through
+  # the command line interface, the CMake semicolon separator needs to be replaced
+  # with $<SEMICOLON>
   if(CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH)
-    list(APPEND extra_cmake_args "-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH}")
+    string(JOIN "$<SEMICOLON>" escaped_cmake_prefix_path ${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH})
+    list(APPEND extra_cmake_args "-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${escaped_cmake_prefix_path}")
   endif()
+
   # CMAKE_PROGRAM_PATH is the search path for executables such as python.
   if(CMAKE_PROGRAM_PATH)
     list(APPEND extra_cmake_args "-DCMAKE_PROGRAM_PATH=${CMAKE_PROGRAM_PATH}")