diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4cc243d7..9eadbd29 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,17 @@ if (HAS_VISIBILITY)
   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -fvisibility=hidden")
 endif()
 
+# Using dynamic linking by default
+option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build shared libraries" ON)
+
+# If building static libraries, set URDFDOM_STATIC definition for symbol
+# visibility settings.
+if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
+  set(URDFDOM_STATIC FALSE)
+else()
+  set(URDFDOM_STATIC TRUE)
+endif()
+
 # This shouldn't be necessary, but there has been trouble
 # with MSVC being set off, but MSVCXX ON.
 if(MSVC OR MSVC90 OR MSVC10)
@@ -34,6 +45,8 @@ endif (MSVC OR MSVC90 OR MSVC10)
 
 set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")
 
+include_directories("${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser")
+
 find_package(TinyXML REQUIRED)
 include_directories(SYSTEM ${TinyXML_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 
@@ -83,6 +96,11 @@ if (NOT MSVC)
     DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}/pkgconfig/ COMPONENT pkgconfig)
 endif()
 
+set(config_file "urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser/config.h")
+configure_file("${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${config_file}.in" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${config_file}" @ONLY)
+install(FILES "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${config_file}"
+  DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/urdf_parser/ COMPONENT headers)
+
 add_subdirectory(urdf_parser_py)
 
 message(STATUS "Configuration successful. Type make to compile urdfdom")
diff --git a/urdf_parser/CMakeLists.txt b/urdf_parser/CMakeLists.txt
index dcccfa86..3088443a 100644
--- a/urdf_parser/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/urdf_parser/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
 include_directories(include)
 
-add_library(urdfdom_world SHARED src/pose.cpp src/model.cpp src/link.cpp src/joint.cpp src/world.cpp)
+add_library(urdfdom_world src/pose.cpp src/model.cpp src/link.cpp src/joint.cpp src/world.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(urdfdom_world ${TinyXML_LIBRARIES} ${console_bridge_LIBRARIES} ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
 set_target_properties(urdfdom_world PROPERTIES SOVERSION 0.3)
 
-add_library(urdfdom_model SHARED src/pose.cpp src/model.cpp src/link.cpp src/joint.cpp)
+add_library(urdfdom_model src/pose.cpp src/model.cpp src/link.cpp src/joint.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(urdfdom_model ${TinyXML_LIBRARIES} ${console_bridge_LIBRARIES} ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
 set_target_properties(urdfdom_model PROPERTIES SOVERSION 0.3)
 
-add_library(urdfdom_sensor SHARED src/urdf_sensor.cpp)
+add_library(urdfdom_sensor src/urdf_sensor.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(urdfdom_sensor urdfdom_model ${TinyXML_LIBRARIES} ${console_bridge_LIBRARIES} ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
 set_target_properties(urdfdom_sensor PROPERTIES SOVERSION 0.3)
 
-add_library(urdfdom_model_state SHARED src/urdf_model_state.cpp src/twist.cpp)
+add_library(urdfdom_model_state src/urdf_model_state.cpp src/twist.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(urdfdom_model_state ${TinyXML_LIBRARIES} ${console_bridge_LIBRARIES} ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
 set_target_properties(urdfdom_model_state PROPERTIES SOVERSION 0.3)
 
@@ -39,4 +39,4 @@ INSTALL(TARGETS check_urdf urdf_to_graphiz urdf_mem_test
   DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR})
 INSTALL(TARGETS urdfdom_sensor DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
 INSTALL(TARGETS urdfdom_model_state DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
-INSTALL(DIRECTORY include/urdf_parser DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR})
+INSTALL(DIRECTORY include/urdf_parser DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR} FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.h")
diff --git a/urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser/config.h.in b/urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser/config.h.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4513405
--- /dev/null
+++ b/urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser/config.h.in
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/* config.h. Generated by CMake for @PROJECT_NAME@. */
+#ifndef URDF_PARSER_CONFIG_H
+#define URDF_PARSER_CONFIG_H
+
+/* Version number */
+#define URDF_MAJOR_VERSION @URDF_MAJOR_VERSION@
+#define URDF_MINOR_VERSION @URDF_MINOR_VERSION@
+#define URDF_PATCH_VERSION @URDF_PATCH_VERSION@
+#define URDF_VERSION       "@URDF_VERSION@"
+
+#cmakedefine URDFDOM_STATIC 1
+
+#endif // #ifndef URDF_PARSER_CONFIG_H
+
diff --git a/urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser/exportdecl.h b/urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser/exportdecl.h
index af8a23be..6d0b9e71 100644
--- a/urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser/exportdecl.h
+++ b/urdf_parser/include/urdf_parser/exportdecl.h
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 #ifndef URDFDOM_EXPORTDECL_H
 # define URDFDOM_EXPORTDECL_H
 
+#include "config.h"
+
 // Handle portable symbol export.
 // Defining manually which symbol should be exported is required
 // under Windows whether MinGW or MSVC is used.