diff --git a/gst/printf/meson.build b/gst/printf/meson.build
index 1b42d2a354..2a867a60e8 100644
--- a/gst/printf/meson.build
+++ b/gst/printf/meson.build
@@ -74,7 +74,6 @@ endif
 printf_lib = static_library('gstprintf',
     printf_sources,
     include_directories : [configinc],
-    c_args : printf_args,
+    c_args : printf_args + pic_args,
     install : false,
-    pic: true,
     dependencies : [glib_dep])
diff --git a/libs/gst/check/libcheck/meson.build b/libs/gst/check/libcheck/meson.build
index f86c187bc6..4f9a92bc3e 100644
--- a/libs/gst/check/libcheck/meson.build
+++ b/libs/gst/check/libcheck/meson.build
@@ -38,5 +38,4 @@ libcheck = static_library('check',
   libcheck_files,
   include_directories : [ configinc, internal_check_h_inc ],
   dependencies : [rt_lib, mathlib],
-  c_args: gst_c_args,
-  pic: true)
+  c_args: gst_c_args + pic_args)
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index c5edeae355..6fe6fa8c65 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -29,6 +29,14 @@ helpers_install_dir = libexecdir + '/gstreamer-1.0/'
 
 cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
 
+# FIXME: Meson should have a way for portably adding -fPIC when needed for use
+# with static libraries that are linked into shared libraries. Or, it should
+# add it by default with an option to turn it off if needed.
+pic_args = ['-fPIC']
+if host_machine.system() == 'windows'
+  pic_args = []
+endif
+
 # Ignore several spurious warnings for things gstreamer does very commonly
 # If a warning is completely useless and spammy, use '/wdXXXX' to suppress it
 # If a warning is harmless but hard to fix, use '/woXXXX' so it's shown once