diff --git a/cmake/helpers/configure.cmake b/cmake/helpers/configure.cmake
index 652edf1..0d1441b 100644
--- a/cmake/helpers/configure.cmake
+++ b/cmake/helpers/configure.cmake
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ check_type_size("int" SIZEOF_INT)
 check_type_size("unsigned long" SIZEOF_UNSIGNED_LONG)
 check_type_size("void*" SIZEOF_VOIDP)
 
+if(MSVC AND NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
+  set(CPL_DISABLE_DLL 1)
+endif()
+
 if (MSVC)
   set(HAVE_VSNPRINTF 1)
 
diff --git a/cmake/template/cpl_config.h.in b/cmake/template/cpl_config.h.in
index c85d3b0..19d3f0a 100644
--- a/cmake/template/cpl_config.h.in
+++ b/cmake/template/cpl_config.h.in
@@ -177,6 +177,9 @@
 /* Define to 1 if the compiler supports -Wzero-as-null-pointer-constant */
 #cmakedefine HAVE_GCC_WARNING_ZERO_AS_NULL_POINTER_CONSTANT @HAVE_GCC_WARNING_ZERO_AS_NULL_POINTER_CONSTANT@
 
+/* Define if building a static windows lib */
+#cmakedefine CPL_DISABLE_DLL @CPL_DISABLE_DLL@
+
 /* Define to 1 if you have the <atlbase.h> header file. */
 #cmakedefine HAVE_ATLBASE_H 1
 
diff --git a/gdal.cmake b/gdal.cmake
index ff1ca7e..7712f1d 100644
--- a/gdal.cmake
+++ b/gdal.cmake
@@ -336,11 +336,6 @@ if (MINGW AND BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     set_target_properties(${GDAL_LIB_TARGET_NAME} PROPERTIES SUFFIX "-${GDAL_SOVERSION}${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
 endif ()
 
-
-if (MSVC AND NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
-  target_compile_definitions(${GDAL_LIB_TARGET_NAME} PUBLIC CPL_DISABLE_DLL=)
-endif ()
-
 if (MINGW)
   if (TARGET_CPU MATCHES "x86_64")
     add_definitions(-m64)