diff --git a/src/fontations/Cargo.toml b/src/fontations/Cargo.toml
index 67a11b6a3..126478214 100644
--- a/src/fontations/Cargo.toml
+++ b/src/fontations/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,4 +14,4 @@ libc = "0.2"
 [lib]
 name = "harfbuzz_fontations"
 path = "lib.rs"
-crate-type = ["cdylib"]
+crate-type = ["staticlib"]
diff --git a/src/fontations/meson.build b/src/fontations/meson.build
index da07bb3e9..8c21358f8 100644
--- a/src/fontations/meson.build
+++ b/src/fontations/meson.build
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ hb_rs = rust.bindgen(
 
 cargo = find_program('cargo')
 
-libharfbuzz_fontations = custom_target(
+harfbuzz_fontations = custom_target(
   'harfbuzz_fontations',
   input: ['lib.rs'],
-  output: ['libharfbuzz_fontations.so'],
+  output: ['libharfbuzz_fontations.a'],
   depends: [hb_rs],
   env: ['OUT_DIR=' + meson.current_build_dir()],
   command: [
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ libharfbuzz_fontations = custom_target(
 )
 
 harfbuzz_fontations_dep = declare_dependency(
-  link_with: libharfbuzz_fontations,
+  link_with: harfbuzz_fontations,
 )
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 6612f7988..1ceaa98fd 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -453,6 +453,7 @@ hb_sources = hb_base_sources + hb_base_ragel_generated_sources
 hb_headers = hb_base_headers
 
 harfbuzz_deps = [thread_dep, m_dep] + harfbuzz_extra_deps
+harfbuzz_link_args = []
 
 if get_option('with_libstdcxx')
   chosen_linker = 'cpp'
@@ -523,6 +524,7 @@ if conf.get('HAVE_FONTATIONS', 0) == 1
   hb_sources += hb_fontations_sources
   hb_headers += hb_fontations_headers
   harfbuzz_deps += [harfbuzz_fontations_dep]
+  harfbuzz_link_args += ['-Wl,--whole-archive', '-L' + meson.current_build_dir() + '/fontations', '-lharfbuzz_fontations', '-Wl,--no-whole-archive']
 endif
 
 have_icu = conf.get('HAVE_ICU', 0) == 1
@@ -610,6 +612,7 @@ darwin_versions = [hb_version_int, '@0@.0.0'.format(hb_version_int)]
 libharfbuzz = library('harfbuzz', hb_sources,
   include_directories: incconfig,
   dependencies: harfbuzz_deps,
+  link_args: harfbuzz_link_args,
   cpp_args: cpp_args + extra_hb_cpp_args,
   soversion: hb_so_version,
   version: version,