diff --git a/include/epoxy/common.h b/include/epoxy/common.h
index cf58ab2f..11ee1aa9 100644
--- a/include/epoxy/common.h
+++ b/include/epoxy/common.h
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #ifndef EPOXY_PUBLIC
-# if defined(_MSC_VER)
+# if defined(_MSC_VER) && defined(EPOXY_SHARED)
 #  define EPOXY_PUBLIC __declspec(dllimport) extern
 # else
 #  define EPOXY_PUBLIC extern
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 76af8c59..3e58008d 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ libtype = get_option('default_library')
 # Visibility compiler flags; we only use this for shared libraries
 visibility_cflags = []
 if libtype == 'shared'
+  common_cflags += [ '-DEPOXY_SHARED' ]
   if host_system == 'windows'
     conf.set('DLL_EXPORT', true)
     conf.set('EPOXY_PUBLIC', '__declspec(dllexport) extern')