diff --git a/basis-universal-sys/Cargo.toml b/basis-universal-sys/Cargo.toml
index 3058b4e..e2e4563 100644
--- a/basis-universal-sys/Cargo.toml
+++ b/basis-universal-sys/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,3 +16,6 @@ exclude = ["vendor/basis_universal/test_files", "vendor/basis_universal/webgl",
 
 [build-dependencies]
 cc = "1.0"
+
+[features]
+link-static = []
diff --git a/basis-universal-sys/build.rs b/basis-universal-sys/build.rs
index 73a0a7c..a0a68e5 100644
--- a/basis-universal-sys/build.rs
+++ b/basis-universal-sys/build.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ fn main() {
     build_with_common_settings()
         .cpp(true)
         .define("BASISD_SUPPORT_KTX2_ZSTD", "0")
-        //.define("BASISU_SUPPORT_SSE", "1") TODO: expose this in a futher release
+        //.define("BASISU_SUPPORT_SSE", "0") TODO: expose this in a futher release
+        .cpp_link_stdlib_static(cfg!(feature = "link-static"))
+        .static_crt(cfg!(feature = "link-static"))
+        .static_flag(cfg!(feature = "link-static"))
         .flag_if_supported("--std=c++11")
         .file("vendor/basis_universal/encoder/pvpngreader.cpp")
         .file("vendor/basis_universal/encoder/jpgd.cpp")
diff --git a/basis-universal/Cargo.toml b/basis-universal/Cargo.toml
index 1ccc5cf..6a1b94c 100644
--- a/basis-universal/Cargo.toml
+++ b/basis-universal/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,3 +19,6 @@ bitflags = "1.2.1"
 [dev-dependencies]
 image = "0.23.13"
 lz4 = "1.23"
+
+[features]
+link-static = ["basis-universal-sys/link-static"]