diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 51484a0eec..12a5aed667 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ endif
 if USE_EXAMPLES
 noinst_PROGRAMS += ecdsa_example
 ecdsa_example_SOURCES = examples/ecdsa.c
-ecdsa_example_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include
+ecdsa_example_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include -DSECP256K1_STATICLIB
 ecdsa_example_LDADD = libsecp256k1.la
 ecdsa_example_LDFLAGS = -static
 if BUILD_WINDOWS
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ TESTS += ecdsa_example
 if ENABLE_MODULE_ECDH
 noinst_PROGRAMS += ecdh_example
 ecdh_example_SOURCES = examples/ecdh.c
-ecdh_example_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include
+ecdh_example_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include -DSECP256K1_STATICLIB
 ecdh_example_LDADD = libsecp256k1.la
 ecdh_example_LDFLAGS = -static
 if BUILD_WINDOWS
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ endif
 if ENABLE_MODULE_SCHNORRSIG
 noinst_PROGRAMS += schnorr_example
 schnorr_example_SOURCES = examples/schnorr.c
-schnorr_example_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include
+schnorr_example_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include -DSECP256K1_STATICLIB
 schnorr_example_LDADD = libsecp256k1.la
 schnorr_example_LDFLAGS = -static
 if BUILD_WINDOWS
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index fe3ef90f20..d973b56c0e 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -127,12 +127,6 @@ AC_DEFUN([SECP_TRY_APPEND_DEFAULT_CFLAGS], [
       SECP_TRY_APPEND_CFLAGS([-wd4267], $1) # Disable warning C4267 "'var' : conversion from 'size_t' to 'type', possible loss of data".
       # Eliminate deprecation warnings for the older, less secure functions.
       CPPFLAGS="-D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS $CPPFLAGS"
-      # We pass -ignore:4217 to the MSVC linker to suppress warning 4217 when
-      # importing variables from a statically linked secp256k1.
-      # (See the libtool manual, section "Windows DLLs" for background.)
-      # Unfortunately, libtool tries to be too clever and strips "-Xlinker arg"
-      # into "arg", so this will be " -Xlinker -ignore:4217" after stripping.
-      LDFLAGS="-Xlinker -Xlinker -Xlinker -ignore:4217 $LDFLAGS" 
     fi
 ])
 SECP_TRY_APPEND_DEFAULT_CFLAGS(SECP_CFLAGS)
diff --git a/examples/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
index e095b7f84f..a314c1787c 100644
--- a/examples/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ target_link_libraries(example INTERFACE
   $<$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>:bcrypt>
 )
 if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS AND MSVC)
-  target_link_options(example INTERFACE /IGNORE:4217)
+  target_compile_definitions(example INTERFACE SECP256K1_STATICLIB)
 endif()
 
 add_executable(ecdsa_example ecdsa.c)
diff --git a/include/secp256k1.h b/include/secp256k1.h
index a7a2be7a3a..927625ffad 100644
--- a/include/secp256k1.h
+++ b/include/secp256k1.h
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ typedef int (*secp256k1_nonce_function)(
 #   define SECP256K1_API            __declspec (dllexport)
 #   define SECP256K1_API_VAR extern __declspec (dllexport)
 #  endif
-# elif defined _MSC_VER
+# elif defined(_MSC_VER) && !defined(SECP256K1_STATICLIB)
 #  define SECP256K1_API
 #  define SECP256K1_API_VAR  extern __declspec (dllimport)
 # elif defined DLL_EXPORT