diff --git a/util/cairo-fdr/meson.build b/util/cairo-fdr/meson.build
index 3cb66c678..b12b90036 100644
--- a/util/cairo-fdr/meson.build
+++ b/util/cairo-fdr/meson.build
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ cairo_fdr_sources = [
 
 libcairofdr = library('cairo-fdr', cairo_fdr_sources,
   include_directories: [incbase, incsrc],
-  c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'],
+  c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'] + static_definition,
   dependencies: deps,
   install: true,
   install_dir: join_paths(get_option('prefix'), get_option('libdir'), 'cairo'),
diff --git a/util/cairo-script/meson.build b/util/cairo-script/meson.build
index a782ec63f..7e21f6c04 100644
--- a/util/cairo-script/meson.build
+++ b/util/cairo-script/meson.build
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ csi_trace_sources = [
 
 libcairoscript = library('cairo-script-interpreter',
   cairoscript_interpreter_sources,
-  c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'],
+  c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'] + static_definition,
   include_directories: [incbase, incsrc],
   dependencies: deps,
   link_with: [libcairo],
@@ -41,14 +41,14 @@ libcairoscript_dep = declare_dependency(link_with: libcairoscript,
   include_directories: [incbase, inccairoscript])
 
 csi_replay_exe = executable('csi-replay', csi_replay_sources,
-  c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'],
+  c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'] + static_definition,
   include_directories: [incbase, incsrc],
   link_with: [libcairo, libcairoscript],
   dependencies: deps,
 )
 
 csi_exec_exe = executable('csi-exec', csi_exec_sources,
-  c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'],
+  c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'] + static_definition,
   include_directories: [incbase, incsrc],
   link_with: [libcairo, libcairoscript],
   dependencies: deps,
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ csi_exec_exe = executable('csi-exec', csi_exec_sources,
 
 if feature_conf.get('CAIRO_HAS_SCRIPT_SURFACE', 0) == 1 and conf.get('HAVE_LIBGEN_H', 0) == 1
   csi_trace_exe = executable('csi-trace', csi_trace_sources,
-    c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'],
+    c_args: ['-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'] + static_definition,
     include_directories: [incbase, incsrc],
     link_with: [libcairo, libcairoscript],
     dependencies: deps,
diff --git a/util/cairo-trace/meson.build b/util/cairo-trace/meson.build
index e836f98cf..76ee372a2 100644
--- a/util/cairo-trace/meson.build
+++ b/util/cairo-trace/meson.build
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ libcairotrace = library('cairo-trace', cairo_trace_sources,
   include_directories: [incbase, incsrc],
   dependencies: deps,
   link_args: extra_link_args,
-  c_args: ['-DSHARED_LIB_EXT="@0@"'.format(shared_lib_ext), '-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'] + pthread_c_args,
+  c_args: ['-DSHARED_LIB_EXT="@0@"'.format(shared_lib_ext), '-DHAVE_CONFIG_H'] + pthread_c_args + static_definition,
   install: true,
   install_dir: join_paths(get_option('prefix'), get_option('libdir'), 'cairo'),
 )
diff --git a/util/meson.build b/util/meson.build
index 016955cea..a90363115 100644
--- a/util/meson.build
+++ b/util/meson.build
@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@ subdir('cairo-missing')
 
 cairo_utils = []
 
+static_definition=[]
+if host_machine.system() == 'windows'
+  lib_default = get_option('default_library')
+  if lib_default == 'static'
+    static_definition=['-DCAIRO_WIN32_STATIC_BUILD']
+  endif
+endif
+
 if feature_conf.get('CAIRO_HAS_GOBJECT_FUNCTIONS', 0) == 1
   subdir('cairo-gobject')
 endif
@@ -55,6 +63,7 @@ foreach util : cairo_utils
     include_directories: [incbase, incsrc, inccairoscript],
     dependencies: deps + util_deps,
     link_with: [libcairo, libcairoscript],
+    c_args: static_definition
   )
 endforeach