diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 37e729aa08..9d615e8d4b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ option (PIO_USE_MPIIO        "Enable support for MPI-IO auto detect"        ON)
 option (PIO_USE_MPISERIAL    "Enable mpi-serial support (instead of MPI)"   OFF)
 option (PIO_USE_PNETCDF_VARD       "Use pnetcdf put_vard "  OFF)
 option (WITH_PNETCDF         "Require the use of PnetCDF"                   ON)
+option (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS    "Build shared libraries"                       ON)
 
 if(APPLE)
   # The linker on macOS does not include `common symbols` by default