diff --git a/mesonbuild/cargo/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/cargo/interpreter.py
index e73a905c8537..cea20381b925 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/cargo/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/cargo/interpreter.py
@@ -766,7 +766,7 @@ def _create_lib(cargo: Manifest, build: builder.Builder, crate_type: manifest.CR
     dependencies.append(build.identifier(_extra_deps_varname()))
 
     posargs: T.List[mparser.BaseNode] = [
-        build.string(fixup_meson_varname(cargo.package.name)),
+        build.string(fixup_meson_varname(cargo.lib.name or cargo.package.name)),
         build.string(cargo.lib.path),
     ]