diff --git a/expat/CMakeLists.txt b/expat/CMakeLists.txt
index 96ac5daa..ca9e6b9e 100644
--- a/expat/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/expat/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ if(MSVC)
 else()
     set(_EXPAT_BUILD_PKGCONFIG_DEFAULT ON)
 endif()
+if(DEFINED BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
+    set(_EXPAT_SHARED_LIBS_DEFAULT ${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS})
+else()
+    set(_EXPAT_SHARED_LIBS_DEFAULT ON)
+endif()
 
 #
 # Configuration
@@ -77,7 +82,7 @@ endif()
 option(EXPAT_BUILD_TOOLS "build the xmlwf tool for expat library" ${_EXPAT_BUILD_TOOLS_DEFAULT})
 option(EXPAT_BUILD_EXAMPLES "build the examples for expat library" ON)
 option(EXPAT_BUILD_TESTS "build the tests for expat library" ON)
-option(EXPAT_SHARED_LIBS "build a shared expat library" ON)
+option(EXPAT_SHARED_LIBS "build a shared expat library" ${_EXPAT_SHARED_LIBS_DEFAULT})
 option(EXPAT_BUILD_DOCS "build man page for xmlwf" ${_EXPAT_BUILD_DOCS_DEFAULT})
 option(EXPAT_BUILD_FUZZERS "build fuzzers for the expat library" OFF)
 option(EXPAT_BUILD_PKGCONFIG "build pkg-config file" ${_EXPAT_BUILD_PKGCONFIG_DEFAULT})