diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,14 +17,10 @@
 
 option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build a shared module" ON)
 option(DESKTOP_ENABLED "Build and install The Desktop style" ON)
-option(STATIC_LIBRARY "Build as a static library (deprecated, use BUILD_SHARED_LIBS instead)" OFF)
 option(BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build and install examples" OFF)
 option(DISABLE_DBUS "Build without D-Bus support" OFF)
-
-if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
-    set(STATIC_LIBRARY 1)
-elseif(STATIC_LIBRARY)
-    set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS 0)
+if(DEFINED STATIC_LIBRARY)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Use the BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF option to build a static library, STATIC_LIBRARY is no longer a supported option")
 endif()
 
 # Make CPack available to easy generate binary packages
@@ -40,11 +36,11 @@
 set(AUTOMOC_MOC_OPTIONS -Muri=org.kde.kirigami)
 set(CMAKE_INCLUDE_CURRENT_DIR ON)
 
-if(STATIC_LIBRARY)
+if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     add_definitions(-DKIRIGAMI_BUILD_TYPE_STATIC)
     add_definitions(-DQT_PLUGIN)
     add_definitions(-DQT_STATICPLUGIN=1)
-endif(STATIC_LIBRARY)
+endif()
 
 ################# set KDE specific information #################
 
@@ -120,11 +116,11 @@
     add_subdirectory(templates)
 endif()
 
-if (BUILD_EXAMPLES AND NOT STATIC_LIBRARY)
+if (BUILD_EXAMPLES AND BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     add_subdirectory(examples)
 endif()
 
-if (BUILD_TESTING AND NOT STATIC_LIBRARY)
+if (BUILD_TESTING AND BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     add_subdirectory(autotests)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 project(kirigami)
 
-if (NOT STATIC_LIBRARY)
+if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     ecm_create_qm_loader(kirigami_QM_LOADER libkirigami2plugin_qt)
 else()
     set(KIRIGAMI_STATIC_FILES
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 
 add_subdirectory(libkirigami)
 
-if(STATIC_LIBRARY)
+if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     # `rcc` is a bit dumb and isn't designed to use auto generated files, to
     # avoid poluting the source directory, use absolute paths
     set(kirigami_QML_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../)
@@ -63,22 +63,22 @@
     if (UNIX AND NOT ANDROID AND NOT(APPLE) AND NOT(DISABLE_DBUS))
         qt5_add_dbus_interface(kirigami_SRCS libkirigami/org.kde.KWin.TabletModeManager.xml tabletmodemanager_interface)
     endif()
-endif(STATIC_LIBRARY)
+endif()
 
 
 add_library(kirigamiplugin ${kirigami_SRCS} ${RESOURCES} ${SHADERS})
 
-if(STATIC_LIBRARY)
+if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(kirigamiplugin PROPERTIES
         AUTOMOC_MOC_OPTIONS -Muri=org.kde.kirigami)
     if (UNIX AND NOT ANDROID AND NOT(APPLE) AND NOT(DISABLE_DBUS))
         set(Kirigami_EXTRA_LIBS Qt5::DBus)
     else()
         set(Kirigami_EXTRA_LIBS "")
     endif()
-else(STATIC_LIBRARY)
+else()
     set(Kirigami_EXTRA_LIBS KF5::Kirigami2)
-endif(STATIC_LIBRARY)
+endif()
 
 
 target_link_libraries(kirigamiplugin
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
             ${Kirigami_EXTRA_LIBS} Qt5::Qml Qt5::Quick Qt5::QuickControls2
     )
 
-if (NOT STATIC_LIBRARY)
+if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     add_custom_target(copy_to_bin ALL
         COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E
                 make_directory ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/org/kde/kirigami.2/
@@ -114,6 +114,6 @@
     install(FILES ${PRI_FILENAME}
             DESTINATION ${ECM_MKSPECS_INSTALL_DIR})
 
-endif(NOT STATIC_LIBRARY)
+endif()
 
 install(TARGETS kirigamiplugin DESTINATION ${KDE_INSTALL_QMLDIR}/org/kde/kirigami.2)