diff --git a/Source/cmExportInstallFileGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmExportInstallFileGenerator.cxx
index e61e8c1e89..7bd754a046 100644
--- a/Source/cmExportInstallFileGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmExportInstallFileGenerator.cxx
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ std::string cmExportInstallFileGenerator::GetImportXcFrameworkLocation(
   if (!importedXcFrameworkLocation.empty()) {
     importedXcFrameworkLocation = cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(
       importedXcFrameworkLocation,
-      cmGeneratorExpression::PreprocessContext::InstallInterface, true);
+      cmGeneratorExpression::PreprocessContext::InstallInterface,
+      this->GetImportPrefixWithSlash());
     importedXcFrameworkLocation = cmGeneratorExpression::Evaluate(
       importedXcFrameworkLocation, targetExport->Target->GetLocalGenerator(),
       config, targetExport->Target, nullptr, targetExport->Target);
@@ -156,7 +157,7 @@ void cmExportInstallFileGenerator::SetImportLocationProperty(
   std::string value;
   if (!cmSystemTools::FileIsFullPath(dest)) {
     // The target is installed relative to the installation prefix.
-    value = "${_IMPORT_PREFIX}/";
+    value = std::string{ this->GetImportPrefixWithSlash() };
   }
   value += dest;
   value += "/";
@@ -399,10 +400,11 @@ bool isSubDirectory(std::string const& a, std::string const& b)
   return (cmSystemTools::ComparePath(a, b) ||
           cmSystemTools::IsSubDirectory(a, b));
 }
+}
 
-bool checkInterfaceDirs(std::string const& prepro,
-                        cmGeneratorTarget const* target,
-                        std::string const& prop)
+bool cmExportInstallFileGenerator::CheckInterfaceDirs(
+  std::string const& prepro, cmGeneratorTarget const* target,
+  std::string const& prop) const
 {
   std::string const& installDir =
     target->Makefile->GetSafeDefinition("CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX");
@@ -423,7 +425,7 @@ bool checkInterfaceDirs(std::string const& prepro,
     if (genexPos == 0) {
       continue;
     }
-    if (cmHasLiteralPrefix(li, "${_IMPORT_PREFIX}")) {
+    if (cmHasPrefix(li, this->GetImportPrefixWithSlash())) {
       continue;
     }
     MessageType messageType = MessageType::FATAL_ERROR;
@@ -521,7 +523,6 @@ bool checkInterfaceDirs(std::string const& prepro,
   }
   return !hadFatalError;
 }
-}
 
 void cmExportInstallFileGenerator::PopulateSourcesInterface(
   cmGeneratorTarget const* gt,
@@ -542,12 +543,12 @@ void cmExportInstallFileGenerator::PopulateSourcesInterface(
     return;
   }
 
-  std::string prepro =
-    cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(*input, preprocessRule, true);
+  std::string prepro = cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(
+    *input, preprocessRule, this->GetImportPrefixWithSlash());
   if (!prepro.empty()) {
     this->ResolveTargetsInGeneratorExpressions(prepro, gt);
 
-    if (!checkInterfaceDirs(prepro, gt, propName)) {
+    if (!this->CheckInterfaceDirs(prepro, gt, propName)) {
       return;
     }
     properties[propName] = prepro;
@@ -571,7 +572,7 @@ void cmExportInstallFileGenerator::PopulateIncludeDirectoriesInterface(
 
   std::string dirs = cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(
     cmList::to_string(target->Target->GetInstallIncludeDirectoriesEntries(te)),
-    preprocessRule, true);
+    preprocessRule, this->GetImportPrefixWithSlash());
   this->ReplaceInstallPrefix(dirs);
   std::unique_ptr<cmCompiledGeneratorExpression> cge = ge.Parse(dirs);
   std::string exportDirs =
@@ -605,12 +606,12 @@ void cmExportInstallFileGenerator::PopulateIncludeDirectoriesInterface(
   std::string includes = (input ? *input : "");
   char const* const sep = input ? ";" : "";
   includes += sep + exportDirs;
-  std::string prepro =
-    cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(includes, preprocessRule, true);
+  std::string prepro = cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(
+    includes, preprocessRule, this->GetImportPrefixWithSlash());
   if (!prepro.empty()) {
     this->ResolveTargetsInGeneratorExpressions(prepro, target);
 
-    if (!checkInterfaceDirs(prepro, target, propName)) {
+    if (!this->CheckInterfaceDirs(prepro, target, propName)) {
       return;
     }
     properties[propName] = prepro;
@@ -636,12 +637,12 @@ void cmExportInstallFileGenerator::PopulateLinkDependsInterface(
     return;
   }
 
-  std::string prepro =
-    cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(*input, preprocessRule, true);
+  std::string prepro = cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(
+    *input, preprocessRule, this->GetImportPrefixWithSlash());
   if (!prepro.empty()) {
     this->ResolveTargetsInGeneratorExpressions(prepro, gt);
 
-    if (!checkInterfaceDirs(prepro, gt, propName)) {
+    if (!this->CheckInterfaceDirs(prepro, gt, propName)) {
       return;
     }
     properties[propName] = prepro;
@@ -667,12 +668,12 @@ void cmExportInstallFileGenerator::PopulateLinkDirectoriesInterface(
     return;
   }
 
-  std::string prepro =
-    cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(*input, preprocessRule, true);
+  std::string prepro = cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(
+    *input, preprocessRule, this->GetImportPrefixWithSlash());
   if (!prepro.empty()) {
     this->ResolveTargetsInGeneratorExpressions(prepro, gt);
 
-    if (!checkInterfaceDirs(prepro, gt, propName)) {
+    if (!this->CheckInterfaceDirs(prepro, gt, propName)) {
       return;
     }
     properties[propName] = prepro;
diff --git a/Source/cmExportInstallFileGenerator.h b/Source/cmExportInstallFileGenerator.h
index 86c99495c4..f33ecc112b 100644
--- a/Source/cmExportInstallFileGenerator.h
+++ b/Source/cmExportInstallFileGenerator.h
@@ -145,6 +145,9 @@ protected:
   std::map<std::string, std::vector<std::string>> ConfigCxxModuleTargetFiles;
 
 private:
+  bool CheckInterfaceDirs(std::string const& prepro,
+                          cmGeneratorTarget const* target,
+                          std::string const& prop) const;
   void PopulateCompatibleInterfaceProperties(cmGeneratorTarget const* target,
                                              ImportPropertyMap& properties);
   void PopulateCustomTransitiveInterfaceProperties(
diff --git a/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.cxx b/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.cxx
index 8e590fa8c7..deb292dc0f 100644
--- a/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.cxx
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <utility>
 
+#include <cm/string_view>
+
 #include "cmsys/RegularExpression.hxx"
 
 #include "cmGeneratorExpressionContext.h"
@@ -193,7 +195,7 @@ static std::string stripAllGeneratorExpressions(const std::string& input)
 }
 
 static void prefixItems(const std::string& content, std::string& result,
-                        const std::string& prefix)
+                        const cm::string_view& prefix)
 {
   std::vector<std::string> entries;
   cmGeneratorExpression::Split(content, entries);
@@ -211,7 +213,7 @@ static void prefixItems(const std::string& content, std::string& result,
 
 static std::string stripExportInterface(
   const std::string& input, cmGeneratorExpression::PreprocessContext context,
-  bool resolveRelative)
+  cm::string_view importPrefix)
 {
   std::string result;
 
@@ -268,8 +270,8 @@ static std::string stripExportInterface(
         } else if (context == cmGeneratorExpression::InstallInterface &&
                    foundGenex == FoundGenex::InstallInterface) {
           const std::string content = input.substr(pos, c - cStart);
-          if (resolveRelative) {
-            prefixItems(content, result, "${_IMPORT_PREFIX}/");
+          if (!importPrefix.empty()) {
+            prefixItems(content, result, importPrefix);
           } else {
             result += content;
           }
@@ -359,13 +361,13 @@ void cmGeneratorExpression::Split(const std::string& input,
 
 std::string cmGeneratorExpression::Preprocess(const std::string& input,
                                               PreprocessContext context,
-                                              bool resolveRelative)
+                                              cm::string_view importPrefix)
 {
   if (context == StripAllGeneratorExpressions) {
     return stripAllGeneratorExpressions(input);
   }
   if (context == BuildInterface || context == InstallInterface) {
-    return stripExportInterface(input, context, resolveRelative);
+    return stripExportInterface(input, context, importPrefix);
   }
 
   assert(false &&
diff --git a/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.h b/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.h
index 71855c9f6a..0abd968af6 100644
--- a/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.h
+++ b/Source/cmGeneratorExpression.h
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 #include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
+#include <cm/string_view>
+
 #include "cmListFileCache.h"
 #include "cmLocalGenerator.h"
 
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ public:
 
   static std::string Preprocess(const std::string& input,
                                 PreprocessContext context,
-                                bool resolveRelative = false);
+                                cm::string_view importPrefix = {});
 
   static void Split(const std::string& input,
                     std::vector<std::string>& output);