diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4723a8a2..1e6d3e7f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -129,6 +129,14 @@ if(SPDLOG_BUILD_SHARED)
     set(CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
 endif()
 
+# place dlls in the same directory as the executables on msvc		
+if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS AND MSVC)
+	set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/$<CONFIG>)
+	set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/$<CONFIG>)
+	set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/$<CONFIG>)
+	set(CMAKE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin/$<CONFIG>)
+endif()
+
 message(STATUS "spdlog version: ${SPDLOG_VERSION}")
 message(STATUS "spdlog build type: " ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE})
 message(STATUS "spdlog build shared: " ${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS})
@@ -255,8 +263,9 @@ if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     add_library(spdlog SHARED ${SPDLOG_SRCS} ${SPDLOG_HEADERS} ${VERSION_RC})
     target_compile_definitions(spdlog PUBLIC SPDLOG_SHARED_LIB)
     if(MSVC)
+        # disable dlls related warnings on msvc
         target_compile_options(spdlog PUBLIC $<$<AND:$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:MSVC>,$<NOT:$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CUDA>>>:/wd4251
-                                             /wd4275>)
+                                             /wd4275>)        
     endif()
 else()
     add_library(spdlog STATIC ${SPDLOG_SRCS} ${SPDLOG_HEADERS})
diff --git a/bench/CMakeLists.txt b/bench/CMakeLists.txt
index e325b6a7..16d5a377 100644
--- a/bench/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/bench/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ endif()
 
 find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
 find_package(benchmark CONFIG)
+
 if(NOT benchmark_FOUND)
     message(STATUS "Using CMake Version ${CMAKE_VERSION}")
     # User can fetch googlebenchmark
@@ -35,9 +36,3 @@ target_link_libraries(latency PRIVATE benchmark::benchmark spdlog::spdlog)
 
 add_executable(formatter-bench formatter-bench.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(formatter-bench PRIVATE benchmark::benchmark spdlog::spdlog)
-
-# copy dlls to the executable folder for msvc
-if(MSVC AND (SPDLOG_BUILD_SHARED OR BUILD_SHARED_LIBS))
-    add_custom_command(TARGET latency POST_BUILD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} 
-		-E copy_if_different $<TARGET_FILE:spdlog> $<TARGET_FILE:fmt>  $<TARGET_FILE:benchmark::benchmark> $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:latency>)
-endif()
diff --git a/cmake/fmtlib.cmake b/cmake/fmtlib.cmake
index bc77752b..5879a154 100644
--- a/cmake/fmtlib.cmake
+++ b/cmake/fmtlib.cmake
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 include(FetchContent)
 
+# Always build static fmtlib version
+set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS_ORIG "${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS}")
+#set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OFF CACHE BOOL "Disable BUILD_SHARED_LIBS for fmtlib" FORCE)
+
+Set(FETCHCONTENT_QUIET FALSE)
 FetchContent_Declare(
         fmt
         GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git
@@ -9,10 +14,11 @@ FetchContent_Declare(
 
 FetchContent_GetProperties(fmt)
 if(NOT fmt_POPULATED)
-    message(STATUS "Fetching fmt lib...")
     FetchContent_Populate(fmt)
     # We do not require os features of fmt
     set(FMT_OS OFF CACHE BOOL "Disable FMT_OS" FORCE)
-    add_subdirectory(${fmt_SOURCE_DIR} ${fmt_BINARY_DIR} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+    add_subdirectory(${fmt_SOURCE_DIR} ${fmt_BINARY_DIR})
 endif ()
 
+# Restore BUILD_SHARED_LIBS
+set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS_ORIG}" CACHE BOOL "Restore BUILD_SHARED_LIBS" FORCE)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/example/CMakeLists.txt b/example/CMakeLists.txt
index e9f42bf0..b197afe1 100644
--- a/example/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/example/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,10 +9,4 @@ if(NOT TARGET spdlog)
 endif()
 
 add_executable(example example.cpp)
-target_link_libraries(example PRIVATE spdlog::spdlog $<$<BOOL:${MINGW}>:ws2_32>)
-
-# copy dlls to the executable folder for msvc
-if(MSVC AND (SPDLOG_BUILD_SHARED OR BUILD_SHARED_LIBS))
-    add_custom_command(TARGET example POST_BUILD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND}
-		-E copy_if_different $<TARGET_FILE:spdlog> $<TARGET_FILE:fmt> $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:example>)
-endif()
+target_link_libraries(example PRIVATE spdlog::spdlog $<$<BOOL:${MINGW}>:ws2_32>)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index aee9e39c..ded2f0ce 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -87,11 +87,4 @@ endfunction()
 
 if(SPDLOG_BUILD_TESTS OR SPDLOG_BUILD_ALL)
     spdlog_prepare_test(spdlog-utests spdlog::spdlog)
-
-    # copy dlls to the executable folder for msvc
-    if(MSVC AND (SPDLOG_BUILD_SHARED OR BUILD_SHARED_LIBS))
-        add_custom_command(TARGET spdlog-utests POST_BUILD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} 
-			-E copy_if_different $<TARGET_FILE:spdlog> $<TARGET_FILE:fmt> $<TARGET_FILE:Catch2::Catch2> $<TARGET_FILE:Catch2::Catch2WithMain> $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:spdlog-utests>)
-    endif()
-
 endif()