diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index bbfd151a2..b70183a66 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ SET(INSTALL_LIB lib CACHE PATH "Where to install libraries to.")
 SET(INSTALL_INC include CACHE PATH "Where to install headers to.")
 
 # Build options
-OPTION (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build Shared Library (OFF for Static)" OFF)
+OPTION (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build Shared Library (OFF for Static)" ON)
 OPTION (BUILD_TESTS "Build Tests" ON)
 OPTION (THREADSAFE "Build libgit2 as threadsafe" OFF)
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 504bb68b0..3b8bd9562 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ The following CMake variables are declared:
 - `INSTALL_BIN`: Where to install binaries to.
 - `INSTALL_LIB`: Where to install libraries to.
 - `INSTALL_INC`: Where to install headers to.
-- `BUILD_SHARED_LIBS`: Build libgit2 as a Shared Library (defaults to OFF)
+- `BUILD_SHARED_LIBS`: Build libgit2 as a Shared Library (defaults to ON)
 - `BUILD_TESTS`: Build the libgit2 test suite (defaults to ON)
 - `THREADSAFE`: Build libgit2 with threading support (defaults to OFF)