diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9860556..6a189b9 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ set (LIB_INSTALL_DIR "${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}" CACHE PATH "Installation path for
 # Set CMAKE_LIB_INSTALL_DIR if not defined
 include(GNUInstallDirs)
 
+# By default, build shared object libraries on linux
+if (UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
+  if (NOT DEFINED BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
+    set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ON)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 # Appends the cmake/modules path to MAKE_MODULE_PATH variable.
 set (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/modules ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH})
 
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index ceb31e4..6698fa4 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ set (mraa_LIB_GLOB_HEADERS
   ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/api/mraa.hpp
 )
 
-add_library (mraa SHARED ${mraa_LIB_SRCS})
+add_library (mraa ${mraa_LIB_SRCS})
 
 
 target_link_libraries (mraa ${mraa_LIBS})