diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ecf026b5f..f39ee5fcb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -66,6 +66,13 @@ if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Release)
     message(STATUS "Configuring OSRM in release mode")
 endif(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Release)
 
+# set compile switches
+if (NOT "${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" STREQUAL "MSVC")
+    # not using Visual Studio C++
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG} -fPIC")
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE} -fPIC")
+endif()
+
 # Configuring compilers
 if ("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" STREQUAL "Clang")
 	# using Clang