--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 # User-configurable options.
 option(BUILD_JSONNET "Build jsonnet command-line tool." ON)
 option(BUILD_JSONNETFMT "Build jsonnetfmt command-line tool." ON)
+option(BUILD_CLI_SHARED "Build command-line tools against shared lib" OFF)
 option(BUILD_TESTS "Build and run jsonnet tests." ON)
 option(USE_SYSTEM_GTEST "Use system-provided gtest library" OFF)
 set(GLOBAL_OUTPUT_PATH_SUFFIX "" CACHE STRING

--- a/cmd/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmd/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,16 +2,28 @@
 
 if (BUILD_JSONNET OR BUILD_TESTS)
     add_executable(jsonnet ${LIBJSONNET_SOURCE} jsonnet.cpp utils.cpp)
-    add_dependencies(jsonnet libjsonnet_static)
-    target_link_libraries(jsonnet libjsonnet_static)
 
+    if (BUILD_CLI_SHARED)
+        add_dependencies(jsonnet libjsonnet)
+        target_link_libraries(jsonnet libjsonnet)
+    else()
+        add_dependencies(jsonnet libjsonnet_static)
+        target_link_libraries(jsonnet libjsonnet_static)
+    endif()
+
 	install(TARGETS jsonnet DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}")
 endif()
 
 if (BUILD_JSONNETFMT OR BUILD_TESTS)
     add_executable(jsonnetfmt ${LIBJSONNET_SOURCE} jsonnetfmt.cpp utils.cpp)
-    add_dependencies(jsonnetfmt libjsonnet_static)
-    target_link_libraries(jsonnetfmt libjsonnet_static)
+
+    if (BUILD_CLI_SHARED)
+        add_dependencies(jsonnetfmt libjsonnet)
+        target_link_libraries(jsonnetfmt libjsonnet)
+    else()
+        add_dependencies(jsonnetfmt libjsonnet_static)
+        target_link_libraries(jsonnetfmt libjsonnet_static)
+    endif()
 
 	install(TARGETS jsonnetfmt DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}")
 endif()