diff --git a/CMakePresets.json b/CMakePresets.json
index 24680f16ba2..b8471423469 100644
--- a/CMakePresets.json
+++ b/CMakePresets.json
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@
         "HDF5_BUILD_GENERATORS": "ON",
         "HDF5_ENABLE_ALL_WARNINGS": "ON",
         "HDF5_MINGW_STATIC_GCC_LIBS": "ON",
-        "HDF5_SET_DEFAULT_RPATH": "ON",
+        "HDF5_APPEND_DEFAULT_RPATH": "ON",
         "HDF_TEST_EXPRESS": "2"
       }
     },
diff --git a/config/cmake/HDFMacros.cmake b/config/cmake/HDFMacros.cmake
index 5e56947725e..e3e2da75ff2 100644
--- a/config/cmake/HDFMacros.cmake
+++ b/config/cmake/HDFMacros.cmake
@@ -459,17 +459,17 @@ macro (HDF_DIR_PATHS package_prefix)
   message(STATUS "Final: ${${package_prefix}_INSTALL_DOC_DIR}")
 
   # Define the needed INSTALL_RPATH for HDF Standard binary packages
-  option (HDF5_SET_DEFAULT_RPATH "Set the default RPATH for the common installation" OFF)
-  if (HDF5_SET_DEFAULT_RPATH)
+  option (HDF5_APPEND_DEFAULT_RPATH "Append to the default RPATH for the HDF installation" OFF)
+  if (HDF5_APPEND_DEFAULT_RPATH)
     if (APPLE)
-      set (CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH
+      list(APPEND CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH
           "@executable_path/../${${package_prefix}_INSTALL_LIB_DIR}"
           "@executable_path/"
           "@loader_path/../${${package_prefix}_INSTALL_LIB_DIR}"
           "@loader_path/"
       )
     else ()
-      set (CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "\$ORIGIN/../${${package_prefix}_INSTALL_LIB_DIR}:\$ORIGIN/")
+      list(APPEND CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "\$ORIGIN/../${${package_prefix}_INSTALL_LIB_DIR}:\$ORIGIN/")
     endif ()
   endif ()
 
diff --git a/config/cmake/cacheinit.cmake b/config/cmake/cacheinit.cmake
index ec4319a7c3f..4e38e98a91a 100644
--- a/config/cmake/cacheinit.cmake
+++ b/config/cmake/cacheinit.cmake
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ set (HDF5_MINGW_STATIC_GCC_LIBS ON CACHE BOOL "Statically link libgcc/libstdc++"
 set (HDF5_ALLOW_EXTERNAL_SUPPORT "TGZ" CACHE STRING "Allow External Library Building (NO GIT TGZ)" FORCE)
 set_property (CACHE HDF5_ALLOW_EXTERNAL_SUPPORT PROPERTY STRINGS NO GIT TGZ)
 
-set (HDF5_SET_DEFAULT_RPATH ON "Set the default RPATH for the common installation" FORCE)
+set (HDF5_APPEND_DEFAULT_RPATH ON "Append to the default RPATH for the HDF installation" FORCE)
 
 ########################
 # compression options
diff --git a/release_docs/INSTALL_CMake.txt b/release_docs/INSTALL_CMake.txt
index 1afae1aa76a..38a455b18ab 100644
--- a/release_docs/INSTALL_CMake.txt
+++ b/release_docs/INSTALL_CMake.txt
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ These five steps are described in detail below.
             set (HDF5_BUILD_JAVA ON CACHE BOOL "Build JAVA support" FORCE)
             set (HDF5_ENABLE_ALL_WARNINGS ON CACHE BOOL "Enable all warnings" FORCE)
             set (HDF5_ALLOW_EXTERNAL_SUPPORT "TGZ" CACHE STRING "Allow External Library Building (NO GIT TGZ)" FORCE)
-            set (HDF5_SET_DEFAULT_RPATH ON "Set the default RPATH for the common installation" FORCE)
+            set (HDF5_APPEND_DEFAULT_RPATH ON "Append to the default RPATH for the HDF installation" FORCE)
             ########################
             # compression options
             ########################
@@ -755,8 +755,8 @@ BUILD_STATIC_LIBS  "Build Static Libraries"         ON
 BUILD_STATIC_EXECS "Build Static Executables"       OFF
 BUILD_TESTING      "Build HDF5 Unit Testing"        ON
 if (WINDOWS)
-  HDF5_DISABLE_PDB_FILES "Do not install PDB files" OFF
-HDF5_SET_DEFAULT_RPATH   "Set the default RPATH for the common installation" OFF
+  HDF5_DISABLE_PDB_FILES  "Do not install PDB files" OFF
+HDF5_APPEND_DEFAULT_RPATH "Append to the default RPATH for the HDF installation" OFF
 
 ---------------- HDF5 Build Options ----------------------------------------
 HDF5_BUILD_CPP_LIB        "Build HDF5 C++ Library"              OFF
diff --git a/release_docs/RELEASE.txt b/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
index 47dff6422ed..3865f0e69d9 100644
--- a/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
+++ b/release_docs/RELEASE.txt
@@ -568,9 +568,9 @@ Bug Fixes since HDF5-2.0.0 release
     - The RPATH settings were restored under an HDF5 option
 
       The RPATH settings were removed by a pull-request #5271, but the settings are needed
-      under certain conditions. The settings have been restored under the HDF5_ENABLE_RPATH option.
+      under certain conditions. The settings have been restored under the HDF5_APPEND_DEFAULT_RPATH option.
       The option is OFF by default. Typical builds using either the cacheinit.cmake file or presets
-      will enable the RPATH settings.
+      will enable the RPATH settings by appending to CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH.
 
     - Use pre-installed libaec compression library