diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5f7aacd3..b7f40ccf 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ endif()
 option(BUILD_SHARED "Build shared library" ON)
 option(BUILD_STATIC "Build static library" ON)
 
+if(${BUILD_CONTAINED_PYTHON}) 
+  #if make a mostly statically linked python module, use static boost
+   set(BUILD_STATIC ON)
+   set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
+endif()
+
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/Modules;${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")
 # get git hash
 include(cmake/git_revision.cmake)
@@ -43,10 +49,6 @@ configure_file (
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
 set(CMAKE_CUDA_STANDARD 14)
 
-if(${BUILD_CONTAINED_PYTHON}) 
-   set(BUILD_STATIC ON)
-endif()
-
 if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES GNU)
     set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS         "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -Wall -Wno-unknown-pragmas -Werror")
     set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG   "-O0 -g3")
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 562bbce3..62110bad 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 
 
 #Prep ourselves for compiling boost
+set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS OFF) #unit_test_framework has to be shared
 find_package(Boost COMPONENTS unit_test_framework system REQUIRED)
 include_directories (${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})