diff --git a/.devops/cpu.Dockerfile b/.devops/cpu.Dockerfile
index 522ee8147d63a..aa2aa0312010e 100644
--- a/.devops/cpu.Dockerfile
+++ b/.devops/cpu.Dockerfile
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY . .
 
 RUN if [ "$TARGETARCH" = "amd64" ]; then \
-        cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DLLAMA_CURL=ON -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_BACKEND_DL=ON -DGGML_CPU_ALL_VARIANTS=ON; \
+        cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_BACKEND_DL=ON -DGGML_CPU_ALL_VARIANTS=ON; \
     elif [ "$TARGETARCH" = "arm64" ]; then \
-        cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DLLAMA_CURL=ON -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_CPU_ARM_ARCH=${GGML_CPU_ARM_ARCH}; \
+        cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_CPU_ARM_ARCH=${GGML_CPU_ARM_ARCH}; \
     else \
         echo "Unsupported architecture"; \
         exit 1; \
diff --git a/.devops/cuda.Dockerfile b/.devops/cuda.Dockerfile
index 0bc4e7ee13f66..a196111e61d62 100644
--- a/.devops/cuda.Dockerfile
+++ b/.devops/cuda.Dockerfile
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ COPY . .
 RUN if [ "${CUDA_DOCKER_ARCH}" != "default" ]; then \
     export CMAKE_ARGS="-DCMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES=${CUDA_DOCKER_ARCH}"; \
     fi && \
-    cmake -B build -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_CUDA=ON -DLLAMA_CURL=ON ${CMAKE_ARGS} -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS=-Wl,--allow-shlib-undefined . && \
+    cmake -B build -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_CUDA=ON ${CMAKE_ARGS} -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS=-Wl,--allow-shlib-undefined . && \
     cmake --build build --config Release -j$(nproc)
 
 RUN mkdir -p /app/lib && \
diff --git a/.devops/intel.Dockerfile b/.devops/intel.Dockerfile
index af783f5e998eb..e2b381766f196 100644
--- a/.devops/intel.Dockerfile
+++ b/.devops/intel.Dockerfile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ RUN if [ "${GGML_SYCL_F16}" = "ON" ]; then \
         && export OPT_SYCL_F16="-DGGML_SYCL_F16=ON"; \
     fi && \
     echo "Building with dynamic libs" && \
-    cmake -B build -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_SYCL=ON -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=icx -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=icpx -DLLAMA_CURL=ON ${OPT_SYCL_F16} && \
+    cmake -B build -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_SYCL=ON -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=icx -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=icpx ${OPT_SYCL_F16} && \
     cmake --build build --config Release -j$(nproc)
 
 RUN mkdir -p /app/lib && \
diff --git a/.devops/musa.Dockerfile b/.devops/musa.Dockerfile
index 1e87737abfb71..e8297c6948c5c 100644
--- a/.devops/musa.Dockerfile
+++ b/.devops/musa.Dockerfile
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ COPY . .
 RUN if [ "${MUSA_DOCKER_ARCH}" != "default" ]; then \
         export CMAKE_ARGS="-DMUSA_ARCHITECTURES=${MUSA_DOCKER_ARCH}"; \
     fi && \
-    cmake -B build -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_MUSA=ON -DLLAMA_CURL=ON ${CMAKE_ARGS} -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS=-Wl,--allow-shlib-undefined . && \
+    cmake -B build -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF -DGGML_MUSA=ON ${CMAKE_ARGS} -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS=-Wl,--allow-shlib-undefined . && \
     cmake --build build --config Release -j$(nproc)
 
 RUN mkdir -p /app/lib && \
diff --git a/.devops/rocm.Dockerfile b/.devops/rocm.Dockerfile
index 48e7e6aaa5b77..66687a25ba068 100644
--- a/.devops/rocm.Dockerfile
+++ b/.devops/rocm.Dockerfile
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ WORKDIR /app
 COPY . .
 
 RUN HIPCXX="$(hipconfig -l)/clang" HIP_PATH="$(hipconfig -R)" \
-    cmake -S . -B build -DGGML_HIP=ON -DAMDGPU_TARGETS=$ROCM_DOCKER_ARCH -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DLLAMA_CURL=ON \
+    cmake -S . -B build -DGGML_HIP=ON -DAMDGPU_TARGETS=$ROCM_DOCKER_ARCH -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
     && cmake --build build --config Release -j$(nproc)
 
 RUN mkdir -p /app/lib \
diff --git a/.github/actions/windows-setup-curl/action.yml b/.github/actions/windows-setup-curl/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..5d76da3d79ac5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/windows-setup-curl/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+name: 'Windows - Setup CURL'
+description: 'Composite action, to be reused in other workflow'
+inputs:
+  curl_version:
+    description: 'CURL version'
+    required: false
+    default: '8.6.0_6'
+outputs:
+  curl_path:
+    description: "Path to the downloaded libcurl"
+    value: ${{ steps.get_libcurl.outputs.curl_path }}
+
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: libCURL
+      id: get_libcurl
+      shell: powershell
+      env:
+        CURL_VERSION: ${{ inputs.curl_version }}
+      run: |
+        curl.exe -o $env:RUNNER_TEMP/curl.zip -L "https://curl.se/windows/dl-${env:CURL_VERSION}/curl-${env:CURL_VERSION}-win64-mingw.zip"
+        mkdir $env:RUNNER_TEMP/libcurl
+        tar.exe -xvf $env:RUNNER_TEMP/curl.zip --strip-components=1 -C $env:RUNNER_TEMP/libcurl
+        echo "curl_path=$env:RUNNER_TEMP/libcurl" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT
diff --git a/.github/workflows/bench.yml.disabled b/.github/workflows/bench.yml.disabled
index 0370c8943fa0e..75d2714792891 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bench.yml.disabled
+++ b/.github/workflows/bench.yml.disabled
@@ -104,7 +104,6 @@ jobs:
           cmake -B build \
               -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF \
               -DLLAMA_BUILD_SERVER=ON \
-              -DLLAMA_CURL=ON \
               -DLLAMA_CUBLAS=ON \
               -DCUDAToolkit_ROOT=/usr/local/cuda \
               -DCMAKE_CUDA_COMPILER=/usr/local/cuda/bin/nvcc \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-linux-cross.yml b/.github/workflows/build-linux-cross.yml
index d4176fef9cee2..e8639913ea3a6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-linux-cross.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-linux-cross.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ jobs:
           sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
                   build-essential \
                   gcc-14-riscv64-linux-gnu \
-                  g++-14-riscv64-linux-gnu
+                  g++-14-riscv64-linux-gnu \
+                  libcurl4-openssl-dev:riscv64
 
       - name: Build
         run: |
@@ -59,7 +60,8 @@ jobs:
                   glslc \
                   gcc-14-riscv64-linux-gnu \
                   g++-14-riscv64-linux-gnu \
-                  libvulkan-dev:riscv64
+                  libvulkan-dev:riscv64 \
+                  libcurl4-openssl-dev:riscv64
 
       - name: Build
         run: |
@@ -99,7 +101,8 @@ jobs:
                   build-essential \
                   glslc \
                   crossbuild-essential-arm64 \
-                  libvulkan-dev:arm64
+                  libvulkan-dev:arm64 \
+                  libcurl4-openssl-dev:arm64
 
       - name: Build
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index dc2a4c0566840..1680f8573e2b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         run: |
           brew update
+          brew install curl
 
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
@@ -62,7 +63,6 @@ jobs:
           cmake -B build \
             -DCMAKE_BUILD_RPATH="@loader_path" \
             -DLLAMA_FATAL_WARNINGS=ON \
-            -DLLAMA_CURL=ON \
             -DGGML_METAL_USE_BF16=ON \
             -DGGML_METAL_EMBED_LIBRARY=ON \
             -DGGML_RPC=ON
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ jobs:
         continue-on-error: true
         run: |
           brew update
+          brew install curl
 
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
@@ -133,7 +134,6 @@ jobs:
           cmake -B build \
             -DCMAKE_BUILD_RPATH="@loader_path" \
             -DLLAMA_FATAL_WARNINGS=ON \
-            -DLLAMA_CURL=ON \
             -DGGML_METAL=OFF \
             -DGGML_RPC=ON
           cmake --build build --config Release -j $(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)
@@ -207,7 +207,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           cmake -B build \
             -DLLAMA_FATAL_WARNINGS=ON \
-            -DLLAMA_CURL=ON \
             -DGGML_RPC=ON
           cmake --build build --config Release -j $(nproc)
 
@@ -281,7 +280,7 @@ jobs:
         id: depends
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
-          sudo apt-get install build-essential
+          sudo apt-get install build-essential libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
@@ -322,7 +321,7 @@ jobs:
         id: depends
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
-          sudo apt-get install build-essential
+          sudo apt-get install build-essential libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
@@ -360,7 +359,7 @@ jobs:
         id: depends
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
-          sudo apt-get install build-essential
+          sudo apt-get install build-essential libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
@@ -397,7 +396,7 @@ jobs:
           wget -qO - https://packages.lunarg.com/lunarg-signing-key-pub.asc | sudo apt-key add -
           sudo wget -qO /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lunarg-vulkan-jammy.list https://packages.lunarg.com/vulkan/lunarg-vulkan-jammy.list
           sudo apt-get update -y
-          sudo apt-get install -y build-essential mesa-vulkan-drivers vulkan-sdk
+          sudo apt-get install -y build-essential mesa-vulkan-drivers vulkan-sdk libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
@@ -454,7 +453,7 @@ jobs:
         id: depends
         run: |
           sudo apt-get update
-          sudo apt-get install -y build-essential git cmake rocblas-dev hipblas-dev
+          sudo apt-get install -y build-essential git cmake rocblas-dev hipblas-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
       - name: ccache
         uses: hendrikmuhs/ccache-action@v1.2.16
@@ -530,7 +529,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: |
           sudo apt update
-          sudo apt install intel-oneapi-compiler-dpcpp-cpp
+          sudo apt install intel-oneapi-compiler-dpcpp-cpp libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
       - name: install oneAPI MKL library
         shell: bash
@@ -578,7 +577,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: |
           sudo apt update
-          sudo apt install intel-oneapi-compiler-dpcpp-cpp
+          sudo apt install intel-oneapi-compiler-dpcpp-cpp libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
       - name: install oneAPI MKL library
         shell: bash
@@ -899,10 +898,17 @@ jobs:
             -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$env:RUNNER_TEMP/opencl-arm64-release"
           cmake --build build-arm64-release --target install --config release
 
+      - name: libCURL
+        id: get_libcurl
+        uses: ./.github/actions/windows-setup-curl
+
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
+        env:
+          CURL_PATH: ${{ steps.get_libcurl.outputs.curl_path }}
         run: |
-          cmake -S . -B build ${{ matrix.defines }}
+          cmake -S . -B build ${{ matrix.defines }} `
+            -DCURL_LIBRARY="$env:CURL_PATH/lib/libcurl.dll.a" -DCURL_INCLUDE_DIR="$env:CURL_PATH/include"
           cmake --build build --config Release -j ${env:NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS}
 
       - name: Add libopenblas.dll
@@ -990,7 +996,7 @@ jobs:
             DEBIAN_FRONTEND: noninteractive
           run: |
               apt update
-              apt install -y cmake build-essential ninja-build libgomp1 git
+              apt install -y cmake build-essential ninja-build libgomp1 git libcurl4-openssl-dev
 
         - name: ccache
           uses: hendrikmuhs/ccache-action@v1.2.16
@@ -1092,16 +1098,23 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           choco install ninja
 
+      - name: libCURL
+        id: get_libcurl
+        uses: ./.github/actions/windows-setup-curl
+
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
         shell: cmd
+        env:
+          CURL_PATH: ${{ steps.get_libcurl.outputs.curl_path }}
         run: |
           call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat"
           cmake -S . -B build -G "Ninja Multi-Config" ^
             -DLLAMA_BUILD_SERVER=ON ^
             -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF ^
             -DGGML_CUDA=ON ^
-            -DGGML_RPC=ON
+            -DGGML_RPC=ON ^
+            -DCURL_LIBRARY="%CURL_PATH%/lib/libcurl.dll.a" -DCURL_INCLUDE_DIR="%CURL_PATH%/include"
           set /A NINJA_JOBS=%NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS%-1
           cmake --build build --config Release -j %NINJA_JOBS% -t ggml
           cmake --build build --config Release
@@ -1177,6 +1190,8 @@ jobs:
         run:  |
           scripts/install-oneapi.bat $WINDOWS_BASEKIT_URL $WINDOWS_DPCPP_MKL
 
+      # TODO: add libcurl support ; we will also need to modify win-build-sycl.bat to accept user-specified args
+
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
         run:  examples/sycl/win-build-sycl.bat
@@ -1262,8 +1277,14 @@ jobs:
           key: ${{ github.job }}
           evict-old-files: 1d
 
+      - name: libCURL
+        id: get_libcurl
+        uses: ./.github/actions/windows-setup-curl
+
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
+        env:
+          CURL_PATH: ${{ steps.get_libcurl.outputs.curl_path }}
         run: |
           $env:HIP_PATH=$(Resolve-Path 'C:\Program Files\AMD\ROCm\*\bin\clang.exe' | split-path | split-path)
           $env:CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${env:HIP_PATH}"
@@ -1274,9 +1295,11 @@ jobs:
             -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release `
             -DGGML_HIP=ON `
             -DGGML_HIP_ROCWMMA_FATTN=ON `
-            -DGGML_RPC=ON
+            -DGGML_RPC=ON `
+            -DCURL_LIBRARY="$env:CURL_PATH/lib/libcurl.dll.a" -DCURL_INCLUDE_DIR="$env:CURL_PATH/include"
           cmake --build build -j ${env:NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS}
 
+  # TODO: reuse windows-latest-cmake-hip instead of duplicating this job
   windows-latest-cmake-hip-release:
     if: ${{ ( github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' ) || github.event.inputs.create_release == 'true' }}
     runs-on: windows-latest
@@ -1318,8 +1341,14 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           & 'C:\Program Files\AMD\ROCm\*\bin\clang.exe' --version
 
+      - name: libCURL
+        id: get_libcurl
+        uses: ./.github/actions/windows-setup-curl
+
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
+        env:
+          CURL_PATH: ${{ steps.get_libcurl.outputs.curl_path }}
         run: |
           $env:HIP_PATH=$(Resolve-Path 'C:\Program Files\AMD\ROCm\*\bin\clang.exe' | split-path | split-path)
           $env:CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${env:HIP_PATH}"
@@ -1331,7 +1360,8 @@ jobs:
             -DAMDGPU_TARGETS=${{ matrix.gpu_target }} `
             -DGGML_HIP_ROCWMMA_FATTN=ON `
             -DGGML_HIP=ON `
-            -DGGML_RPC=ON
+            -DGGML_RPC=ON `
+            -DCURL_LIBRARY="$env:CURL_PATH/lib/libcurl.dll.a" -DCURL_INCLUDE_DIR="$env:CURL_PATH/include"
           cmake --build build -j ${env:NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS}
           md "build\bin\rocblas\library\"
           cp "${env:HIP_PATH}\bin\hipblas.dll" "build\bin\"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/server.yml b/.github/workflows/server.yml
index 092c928bdf552..6c9b5132276fe 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/server.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/server.yml
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@ jobs:
           cmake -B build \
               -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF \
               -DLLAMA_BUILD_SERVER=ON \
-              -DLLAMA_CURL=ON \
               -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${{ matrix.build_type }} \
               -DLLAMA_SANITIZE_${{ matrix.sanitizer }}=ON \
               -DGGML_OPENMP=OFF ;
@@ -142,7 +141,6 @@ jobs:
           cmake -B build \
               -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF \
               -DLLAMA_BUILD_SERVER=ON \
-              -DLLAMA_CURL=ON \
               -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${{ matrix.build_type }} \
               -DLLAMA_SANITIZE_${{ matrix.sanitizer }}=ON ;
           cmake --build build --config ${{ matrix.build_type }} -j $(nproc) --target llama-server
@@ -154,7 +152,6 @@ jobs:
           cmake -B build \
               -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF \
               -DLLAMA_BUILD_SERVER=ON \
-              -DLLAMA_CURL=ON \
               -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=${{ matrix.build_type }} ;
           cmake --build build --config ${{ matrix.build_type }} -j $(nproc) --target llama-server
 
@@ -195,17 +192,14 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: libCURL
         id: get_libcurl
-        env:
-          CURL_VERSION: 8.6.0_6
-        run: |
-          curl.exe -o $env:RUNNER_TEMP/curl.zip -L "https://curl.se/windows/dl-${env:CURL_VERSION}/curl-${env:CURL_VERSION}-win64-mingw.zip"
-          mkdir $env:RUNNER_TEMP/libcurl
-          tar.exe -xvf $env:RUNNER_TEMP/curl.zip --strip-components=1 -C $env:RUNNER_TEMP/libcurl
+        uses: ./.github/actions/windows-setup-curl
 
       - name: Build
         id: cmake_build
+        env:
+          CURL_PATH: ${{ steps.get_libcurl.outputs.curl_path }}
         run: |
-          cmake -B build -DLLAMA_CURL=ON -DCURL_LIBRARY="$env:RUNNER_TEMP/libcurl/lib/libcurl.dll.a" -DCURL_INCLUDE_DIR="$env:RUNNER_TEMP/libcurl/include"
+          cmake -B build -DCURL_LIBRARY="$env:CURL_PATH/lib/libcurl.dll.a" -DCURL_INCLUDE_DIR="$env:CURL_PATH/include"
           cmake --build build --config Release -j ${env:NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS} --target llama-server
 
       - name: Python setup
@@ -221,8 +215,10 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Copy Libcurl
         id: prepare_libcurl
+        env:
+          CURL_PATH: ${{ steps.get_libcurl.outputs.curl_path }}
         run: |
-          cp $env:RUNNER_TEMP/libcurl/bin/libcurl-x64.dll ./build/bin/Release/libcurl-x64.dll
+          cp $env:CURL_PATH/bin/libcurl-x64.dll ./build/bin/Release/libcurl-x64.dll
 
       - name: Tests
         id: server_integration_tests
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 23cfbce5ae566..4729e184555c6 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ option(LLAMA_BUILD_EXAMPLES "llama: build examples"       ${LLAMA_STANDALONE})
 option(LLAMA_BUILD_SERVER   "llama: build server example" ${LLAMA_STANDALONE})
 
 # 3rd party libs
-option(LLAMA_CURL "llama: use libcurl to download model from an URL" OFF)
+option(LLAMA_CURL       "llama: use libcurl to download model from an URL" ON)
 option(LLAMA_LLGUIDANCE "llama-common: include LLGuidance library for structured output in common utils" OFF)
 
 # Required for relocatable CMake package
@@ -168,6 +168,10 @@ add_subdirectory(src)
 # utils, programs, examples and tests
 #
 
+if (NOT LLAMA_BUILD_EXAMPLES OR NOT LLAMA_BUILD_COMMON)
+    set(LLAMA_CURL OFF)
+endif()
+
 if (LLAMA_BUILD_COMMON)
     add_subdirectory(common)
 endif()
diff --git a/common/CMakeLists.txt b/common/CMakeLists.txt
index 829eb5b7238b9..43533fc86abe2 100644
--- a/common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -85,7 +85,10 @@ set(LLAMA_COMMON_EXTRA_LIBS build_info)
 
 # Use curl to download model url
 if (LLAMA_CURL)
-    find_package(CURL REQUIRED)
+    find_package(CURL)
+    if (NOT CURL_FOUND)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "Could NOT find CURL. Hint: to disable this feature, set -DLLAMA_CURL=OFF")
+    endif()
     target_compile_definitions(${TARGET} PUBLIC LLAMA_USE_CURL)
     include_directories(${CURL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
     find_library(CURL_LIBRARY curl REQUIRED)
diff --git a/examples/run/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/run/CMakeLists.txt
index cd6b0520e08bb..7cff188ca69f0 100644
--- a/examples/run/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/run/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 set(TARGET llama-run)
 add_executable(${TARGET} run.cpp linenoise.cpp/linenoise.cpp)
+
+# TODO: avoid copying this code block from common/CMakeLists.txt
+set(LLAMA_RUN_EXTRA_LIBS "")
+if (LLAMA_CURL)
+    find_package(CURL REQUIRED)
+    target_compile_definitions(${TARGET} PUBLIC LLAMA_USE_CURL)
+    include_directories(${CURL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+    find_library(CURL_LIBRARY curl REQUIRED)
+    set(LLAMA_RUN_EXTRA_LIBS ${LLAMA_RUN_EXTRA_LIBS} ${CURL_LIBRARY})
+endif ()
+
 install(TARGETS ${TARGET} RUNTIME)
-target_link_libraries(${TARGET} PRIVATE common llama ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
+target_link_libraries(${TARGET} PRIVATE common llama ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT} ${LLAMA_RUN_EXTRA_LIBS})
 target_compile_features(${TARGET} PRIVATE cxx_std_17)
diff --git a/examples/server/tests/README.md b/examples/server/tests/README.md
index 12816bfa8705b..652dea0382ce1 100644
--- a/examples/server/tests/README.md
+++ b/examples/server/tests/README.md
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ To mitigate it, you can increase values in `n_predict`, `kv_size`.
 
 ```shell
 cd ../../..
-cmake -B build -DLLAMA_CURL=ON
+cmake -B build
 cmake --build build --target llama-server
 ```
 
diff --git a/examples/sycl/win-build-sycl.bat b/examples/sycl/win-build-sycl.bat
index 17dd1ff5c169e..6fc897b1486c8 100644
--- a/examples/sycl/win-build-sycl.bat
+++ b/examples/sycl/win-build-sycl.bat
@@ -13,10 +13,10 @@ if %errorlevel% neq 0 goto ERROR
 
 ::  for FP16
 ::  faster for long-prompt inference
-::  cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" ..  -DGGML_SYCL=ON -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=icx -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DGGML_SYCL_F16=ON
+::  cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" .. -DLLAMA_CURL=OFF -DGGML_SYCL=ON -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=icx -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DGGML_SYCL_F16=ON
 
 ::  for FP32
-cmake -G "Ninja" ..  -DGGML_SYCL=ON -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=cl -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=icx -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+cmake -G "Ninja" .. -DLLAMA_CURL=OFF -DGGML_SYCL=ON -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=cl -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=icx -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
 if %errorlevel% neq 0 goto ERROR
 ::  build example/main only
 ::  make main
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 7a158d6024d78..2bb210702aef8 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -131,9 +131,13 @@ if (NOT WIN32)
 endif()
 
 llama_target_and_test(test-log.cpp)
-llama_target_and_test(test-arg-parser.cpp)
 llama_target_and_test(test-chat-template.cpp)
 
+# this fails on windows (github hosted runner) due to curl DLL not found (exit code 0xc0000135)
+if (NOT WIN32)
+    llama_target_and_test(test-arg-parser.cpp)
+endif()
+
 # llama_target_and_test(test-opt.cpp) # SLOW
 llama_target_and_test(test-gguf.cpp)
 llama_target_and_test(test-backend-ops.cpp)