diff --git a/cpp/README.md b/cpp/README.md
index a986e72cad..d0f625f733 100644
--- a/cpp/README.md
+++ b/cpp/README.md
@@ -86,6 +86,22 @@ following dependencies:
 If your project does not need `lz4` or `zstd` support, you can optionally disable these by defining
 `MCAP_COMPRESSION_NO_LZ4` or `MCAP_COMPRESSION_NO_ZSTD` respectively.
 
+The C++ implementation of MCAP can also be compiled into a static or shared library.
+When compiling for Windows, the correct `dllexport` and `dllimport` storage-class attributes need to be set.
+This is handled in [mcap/visibility.hpp](https://github.com/foxglove/mcap/blob/main/cpp/mcap/include/mcap/visibility.hpp).
+
+There are two `#defines` that need (not) to be set depending on whether using MCAP as static or shared library and whether we are compiling the MCAP library itself or linking against it:
+
+| Static library | `MCAP_IMPLEMENTATION` | `MCAP_STATIC_DEFINE` |
+| -------------- | --------------------  | -------------------- |
+| Compiling      | Set                   | Set                  |
+| Link against   | Not set               | Set                  |
+
+| Shared library | `MCAP_IMPLEMENTATION` | `MCAP_STATIC_DEFINE` |
+| -------------- | --------------------  | -------------------- |
+| Compiling      | Set                   | Not set              |
+| Link against   | Not set               | Not set              |
+
 ### Conan
 
 To simplify installation of dependencies, the [Conan](https://conan.io/) package
diff --git a/cpp/mcap/include/mcap/visibility.hpp b/cpp/mcap/include/mcap/visibility.hpp
index bf709ef1d1..60a2ff5ce2 100644
--- a/cpp/mcap/include/mcap/visibility.hpp
+++ b/cpp/mcap/include/mcap/visibility.hpp
@@ -1,17 +1,21 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #if defined _WIN32 || defined __CYGWIN__
-#  ifdef __GNUC__
-#    define MCAP_EXPORT __attribute__((dllexport))
-#    define MCAP_IMPORT __attribute__((dllimport))
+#  ifndef MCAP_STATIC_DEFINE
+#    ifdef __GNUC__
+#      define MCAP_EXPORT __attribute__((dllexport))
+#      define MCAP_IMPORT __attribute__((dllimport))
+#    else
+#      define MCAP_EXPORT __declspec(dllexport)
+#      define MCAP_IMPORT __declspec(dllimport)
+#    endif
+#    ifdef MCAP_IMPLEMENTATION
+#      define MCAP_PUBLIC MCAP_EXPORT
+#    else
+#      define MCAP_PUBLIC MCAP_IMPORT
+#    endif
 #  else
-#    define MCAP_EXPORT __declspec(dllexport)
-#    define MCAP_IMPORT __declspec(dllimport)
-#  endif
-#  ifdef MCAP_IMPLEMENTATION
-#    define MCAP_PUBLIC MCAP_EXPORT
-#  else
-#    define MCAP_PUBLIC MCAP_IMPORT
+#    define MCAP_PUBLIC
 #  endif
 #else
 #  define MCAP_EXPORT __attribute__((visibility("default")))