diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7d9dd259fa..d09d98fd39 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -984,11 +984,6 @@ endif() # ! MSVC
 include(CheckCCompilerFlag)
 include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
 
-if(ENABLE_STATIC)
-	set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS 0)
-else()
-	set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS 1)
-endif()
 
 function(test_compiler_flag _lang _this_flag _valid_flags_var)
 	string(MAKE_C_IDENTIFIER "${_lang}${_this_flag}_VALID" _flag_var)
@@ -3498,7 +3493,7 @@ if(BUILD_dumpcap AND PCAP_FOUND)
 	#
 	# Instead, we just include source files for the relevant code
 	# to be built as part of dumpcap, so that they're built with
-	# ENABLE_STATIC defined, and will be able to be built with
+	# BUILD_SHARED_LIBS defined, and will be able to be built with
 	# the static version of libwsutil.
 	#
 	set(dumpcap_FILES
@@ -3516,7 +3511,7 @@ if(BUILD_dumpcap AND PCAP_FOUND)
 	set_extra_executable_properties(dumpcap "Executables")
 	target_link_libraries(dumpcap ${dumpcap_LIBS})
 	target_include_directories(dumpcap SYSTEM PRIVATE ${NL_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-	target_compile_definitions(dumpcap PRIVATE ENABLE_STATIC)
+	target_compile_definitions(dumpcap PRIVATE BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
 	executable_link_mingw_unicode(dumpcap)
 	install(TARGETS dumpcap
 			RUNTIME	DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}
diff --git a/CMakeOptions.txt b/CMakeOptions.txt
index 8dae80c254..22faca0403 100644
--- a/CMakeOptions.txt
+++ b/CMakeOptions.txt
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ if(WIN32)
 endif()
 
 option(ENABLE_PCAP       "Enable libpcap support (required for capturing)" ON)
-option(ENABLE_STATIC            "Build Wireshark libraries statically" OFF)
+option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS            "Build Wireshark libraries as shared" ON)
 option(USE_STATIC               "Always link statically with external libraries" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_PLUGINS           "Build with plugins" ON)
 option(ENABLE_PLUGIN_IFDEMO     "Build with plugin interface demo" OFF)
diff --git a/cmakeconfig.h.in b/cmakeconfig.h.in
index 428c2fd319..87b38b3803 100644
--- a/cmakeconfig.h.in
+++ b/cmakeconfig.h.in
@@ -31,9 +31,6 @@
 /*  Define to 1 if we check hf conflict */
 #cmakedefine ENABLE_CHECK_FILTER 1
 
-/* Link Wireshark libraries statically */
-#cmakedefine ENABLE_STATIC 1
-
 /* Enable AddressSanitizer (and LeakSanitizer on clang/gcc) */
 #cmakedefine ENABLE_ASAN 1
 
diff --git a/doc/Wireshark_Release_Notes.adoc b/doc/Wireshark_Release_Notes.adoc
index f7b81be9db..727cfa6fd7 100644
--- a/doc/Wireshark_Release_Notes.adoc
+++ b/doc/Wireshark_Release_Notes.adoc
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ for Arm64 and Intel. wsbuglink:17294[]
 === Removed Features and Support
 
 Wireshark no longer supports AirPcap and WinPcap.
+Cmake option ENABLE_STATIC deprecated in favor of BUILD_SHARED_LIBS
 
 // === Removed Dissectors
 
diff --git a/include/ws_symbol_export.h b/include/ws_symbol_export.h
index 3de71a8a16..fe77b9008b 100644
--- a/include/ws_symbol_export.h
+++ b/include/ws_symbol_export.h
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
      * be necessary, e.g. if what's declared is an array whose size is
      * not given in the declaration.
      */
-    #ifdef ENABLE_STATIC
+    #ifdef BUILD_SHARED_LIBS
       /*
        * We're building all-static, so we're not building any DLLs.
        */
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
     #elif defined(__GNUC__)
       /* GCC */
       #define WS_DLL_PUBLIC_DEF __attribute__ ((dllimport))
-    #else /* ! ENABLE_STATIC && ! __GNUC__ */
+    #else /* ! BUILD_SHARED_LIBS && ! __GNUC__ */
       /*
        * Presumably MSVC, and we're not building all-static.
        * Note: actually gcc seems to also support this syntax.
diff --git a/writecap/CMakeLists.txt b/writecap/CMakeLists.txt
index eb816436f3..33b9a0786e 100644
--- a/writecap/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/writecap/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ set_target_properties(writecap PROPERTIES
 target_compile_definitions(writecap
 	PRIVATE
 		# Necessary to avoid C4273 inconsistent DLL linkage on MSVC
-		ENABLE_STATIC
+		BUILD_SHARED_LIBS
 )
 
 target_link_libraries(writecap
diff --git a/wsutil/CMakeLists.txt b/wsutil/CMakeLists.txt
index 53b5d8202f..b47ed18d48 100644
--- a/wsutil/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/wsutil/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ add_library(wsutil_static STATIC
 )
 
 target_compile_definitions(wsutil_static PRIVATE
-	ENABLE_STATIC
+	BUILD_SHARED_LIBS
 	BUILD_WSUTIL
 )