diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index d49272f6..73979d37 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -70,4 +70,10 @@ target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC ${SUNSHINE_DEFINITIONS} ${TEST
 target_compile_options(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CXX>:${SUNSHINE_COMPILE_OPTIONS}>;$<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CUDA>:${SUNSHINE_COMPILE_OPTIONS_CUDA};-std=c++17>)  # cmake-lint: disable=C0301
 target_link_options(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE)
 
+if (WIN32)
+    # prefer static libraries since we're linking statically
+    # this fixes gtest_main and libcurl linking errors, when using non MSYS2 version of CMake
+    set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES LINK_SEARCH_START_STATIC 1)
+endif ()
+
 add_test(NAME ${PROJECT_NAME} COMMAND sunshine_test)