diff --git a/lib/nvmf/Makefile b/lib/nvmf/Makefile
index 9a115e584..a7693cbf7 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/Makefile
+++ b/lib/nvmf/Makefile
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ ifeq ($(CONFIG_VFIO_USER), y)
 C_SRCS += vfio_user.c
 CFLAGS += -I$(VFIO_USER_INCLUDE_DIR)
 LDFLAGS += -L$(VFIO_USER_LIBRARY_DIR)
-LOCAL_SYS_LIBS += -Wl,-Bstatic -lvfio-user -Wl,-Bdynamic -ljson-c
+LOCAL_SYS_LIBS += -lvfio-user -ljson-c
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_FC),y)
diff --git a/mk/spdk.app.mk b/mk/spdk.app.mk
index e9242007d..424fac1ab 100644
--- a/mk/spdk.app.mk
+++ b/mk/spdk.app.mk
@@ -24,10 +24,6 @@ LIBS += $(SPDK_LIB_LINKER_ARGS)
 
 CLEAN_FILES = $(APP)
 
-ifeq ($(findstring vfio_user,$(SPDK_LIB_FILES)),vfio_user)
-VFIO_USER_LIB_FILE=$(VFIO_USER_LIBRARY_DIR)/libvfio-user.a
-endif
-
 all : $(APP)
 	@:
 
@@ -39,7 +35,7 @@ uninstall: empty_rule
 empty_rule:
 	@:
 
-$(APP) : $(OBJS) $(SPDK_LIB_FILES) $(ENV_LIBS) $(VFIO_USER_LIB_FILE)
+$(APP) : $(OBJS) $(SPDK_LIB_FILES) $(ENV_LIBS)
 	$(LINK_C)
 
 clean :
diff --git a/mk/spdk.common.mk b/mk/spdk.common.mk
index e3f56ff7b..c378f3229 100644
--- a/mk/spdk.common.mk
+++ b/mk/spdk.common.mk
@@ -169,15 +169,20 @@ VFIO_USER_BUILD_TYPE=debug
 else
 VFIO_USER_BUILD_TYPE=release
 endif
+ifeq ($(CONFIG_SHARED), y)
+VFIO_USER_BUILD_SHARED=shared
+else
+VFIO_USER_BUILD_SHARED=static
+endif
 VFIO_USER_LIB_PREFIX=/usr/local/lib
 VFIO_USER_BUILD_DIR=$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/build/libvfio-user/build-$(VFIO_USER_BUILD_TYPE)
-VFIO_USER_INSTALL_DIR=$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/build/libvfio-user/
+VFIO_USER_INSTALL_DIR=$(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/build/libvfio-user
 VFIO_USER_INCLUDE_DIR=$(VFIO_USER_INSTALL_DIR)/usr/local/include
-VFIO_USER_LIBRARY_DIR=$(VFIO_USER_INSTALL_DIR)/$(VFIO_USER_LIB_PREFIX)
+VFIO_USER_LIBRARY_DIR=$(VFIO_USER_INSTALL_DIR)$(VFIO_USER_LIB_PREFIX)
 
 CFLAGS += -I$(VFIO_USER_INCLUDE_DIR)
 LDFLAGS += -L$(VFIO_USER_LIBRARY_DIR)
-SYS_LIBS += -Wl,-Bstatic -lvfio-user -Wl,-Bdynamic -ljson-c
+SYS_LIBS += -lvfio-user -ljson-c
 endif
 
 #Attach only if FreeBSD and RDMA is specified with configure
diff --git a/test/common/autotest_common.sh b/test/common/autotest_common.sh
index f6647484f..8c4c010c7 100755
--- a/test/common/autotest_common.sh
+++ b/test/common/autotest_common.sh
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ export SPDK_TEST_NVMF_NICS
 # always test with SPDK shared objects.
 export SPDK_LIB_DIR="$rootdir/build/lib"
 export DPDK_LIB_DIR="${SPDK_RUN_EXTERNAL_DPDK:-$rootdir/dpdk/build}/lib"
-export VFIO_LIB_DIR="$rootdir/libvfio-user/build/release/lib"
+export VFIO_LIB_DIR="$rootdir/build/libvfio-user/usr/local/lib"
 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$SPDK_LIB_DIR:$DPDK_LIB_DIR:$VFIO_LIB_DIR
 
 # Tell setup.sh to wait for block devices upon each reset
diff --git a/vfiouserbuild/Makefile b/vfiouserbuild/Makefile
index 8a7b49948..41258d495 100644
--- a/vfiouserbuild/Makefile
+++ b/vfiouserbuild/Makefile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ include $(SPDK_ROOT_DIR)/mk/spdk.common.mk
 # target instead of allowing CC=scan-build like everyone else.
 SUB_CC = $(patsubst %ccc-analyzer,$(DEFAULT_CC),$(CC))
 
-VFIO_USER_CFG_OPTS = --buildtype $(VFIO_USER_BUILD_TYPE) -Ddefault_library=static -Dlibdir=$(VFIO_USER_LIB_PREFIX)
+VFIO_USER_CFG_OPTS = --buildtype $(VFIO_USER_BUILD_TYPE) -Ddefault_library=$(VFIO_USER_BUILD_SHARED) -Dlibdir=$(VFIO_USER_LIB_PREFIX)
 
 all: scan-build