diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 39d5dccde..26fcf1fd0 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ rapids_cmake_build_type(Release)
 option(RMM_NVTX "Build RMM with NVTX support" OFF)
 option(BUILD_TESTS "Configure CMake to build tests" ON)
 option(BUILD_BENCHMARKS "Configure CMake to build (google) benchmarks" OFF)
+# This is mostly so that dependent libraries, such as fmt, are configured in shared mode for
+# downstream dependents of RMM that get their common dependencies transitively.
+option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build RMM shared libraries" ON)
 set(RMM_LOGGING_LEVEL
     "INFO"
     CACHE STRING "Choose the logging level.")