diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 256b5d6679..be4a1822ae 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -217,13 +217,6 @@ option(ENABLE_ARES "Enable c-ares support" OFF)
 option(CURL_DISABLE_INSTALL "Disable installation targets" OFF)
 
 if(WIN32)
-  option(CURL_STATIC_CRT "Build libcurl with static CRT with MSVC (/MT)" OFF)
-  if(CURL_STATIC_CRT AND MSVC)
-    set(CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "MultiThreaded$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>")
-    string(APPEND CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE " -MT")
-    string(APPEND CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG " -MTd")
-  endif()
-
   option(ENABLE_UNICODE "Use the Unicode version of the Windows API functions" OFF)
   if(WINDOWS_STORE OR WINCE)
     set(ENABLE_UNICODE ON)
@@ -356,6 +349,20 @@ else()
   set(LIB_SELECTED ${LIB_STATIC})
 endif()
 
+if(WIN32)
+  option(CURL_STATIC_CRT "Build libcurl with static CRT with MSVC (/MT)" OFF)
+  if(CURL_STATIC_CRT AND MSVC)
+    if(BUILD_STATIC_CURL)
+      set(CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "MultiThreaded$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>")
+      string(APPEND CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE " -MT")
+      string(APPEND CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG " -MTd")
+    else()
+      message(WARNING "Static CRT requires curl executable built with static libcurl "
+        "(BUILD_STATIC_LIBS=ON and BUILD_STATIC_CURL=ON).")
+    endif()
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 # Override to force-disable or force-enable the use of pkg-config.
 if((UNIX AND NOT ANDROID AND (NOT APPLE OR CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Darwin")) OR
    VCPKG_TOOLCHAIN OR
diff --git a/appveyor.sh b/appveyor.sh
index d1363e72e6..9388a6d33b 100644
--- a/appveyor.sh
+++ b/appveyor.sh
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ if [ "${BUILD_SYSTEM}" = 'CMake' ]; then
       -DCMAKE_UNITY_BUILD="${UNITY}" -DCURL_TEST_BUNDLES=ON \
       -DCURL_WERROR=ON \
       -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS="${SHARED}" \
+      -DCURL_STATIC_CRT=ON \
       -DENABLE_DEBUG="${DEBUG}" \
       -DENABLE_UNICODE="${ENABLE_UNICODE}" \
       -DHTTP_ONLY="${HTTP_ONLY}" \
diff --git a/docs/INSTALL-CMAKE.md b/docs/INSTALL-CMAKE.md
index e55d951496..4479d4a365 100644
--- a/docs/INSTALL-CMAKE.md
+++ b/docs/INSTALL-CMAKE.md
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ assumes that CMake generates `Makefile`:
 - `CURL_LIBCURL_VERSIONED_SYMBOLS`:         Enable libcurl versioned symbols. Default: `OFF`
 - `CURL_LIBCURL_VERSIONED_SYMBOLS_PREFIX`:  Override default versioned symbol prefix. Default: `<TLS-BACKEND>_` or `MULTISSL_`
 - `CURL_LTO`:                               Enable compiler Link Time Optimizations. Default: `OFF`
-- `CURL_STATIC_CRT`:                        Build libcurl with static CRT with MSVC (`/MT`). Default: `OFF`
+- `CURL_STATIC_CRT`:                        Build libcurl with static CRT with MSVC (`/MT`) (requires static curl executable). Default: `OFF`
 - `CURL_TARGET_WINDOWS_VERSION`:            Minimum target Windows version as hex string.
 - `CURL_TEST_BUNDLES`:                      Bundle `libtest` and `unittest` tests into single binaries. Default: `OFF`
 - `CURL_WERROR`:                            Turn compiler warnings into errors. Default: `OFF`