diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0a374b5d5..88a1642b8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -152,10 +152,6 @@ include (${SHARED_DIR}/utils/uncommon/shared_uncommon.cmake)
 set (THREADS_PREFER_PTHREAD_FLAG ON)
 find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
 
-if (MSVC)
-  add_definitions(-DCOMPILING_WASM_RUNTIME_API=1)
-endif ()
-
 add_library (vmlib ${WAMR_RUNTIME_LIB_SOURCE})
 set_target_properties (vmlib PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME iwasm)
 target_include_directories(vmlib INTERFACE
diff --git a/build-scripts/runtime_lib.cmake b/build-scripts/runtime_lib.cmake
index d9459838e..e538b5d91 100644
--- a/build-scripts/runtime_lib.cmake
+++ b/build-scripts/runtime_lib.cmake
@@ -193,6 +193,13 @@ else()
     enable_language (ASM)
 endif()
 
+# it will expose the runtime APIs.
+# you'll use the following command to check the exported APIs
+# dumpbin.exe /EXPORTS xxx
+if (MSVC)
+    add_compile_definitions(COMPILING_WASM_RUNTIME_API=1)
+endif ()
+
 include (${SHARED_PLATFORM_CONFIG})
 include (${SHARED_DIR}/mem-alloc/mem_alloc.cmake)
 include (${IWASM_DIR}/common/iwasm_common.cmake)
diff --git a/product-mini/platforms/windows/CMakeLists.txt b/product-mini/platforms/windows/CMakeLists.txt
index 1a1707f0c..2a4017d68 100644
--- a/product-mini/platforms/windows/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/product-mini/platforms/windows/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ set (CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_LINK_CXX_FLAGS "")
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
-add_definitions(-DCOMPILING_WASM_RUNTIME_API=1)
-
 # Set WAMR_BUILD_TARGET, currently values supported:
 # "X86_64", "AMD_64", "X86_32", "AARCH64[sub]", "ARM[sub]", "THUMB[sub]", "MIPS", "XTENSA"
 if (NOT DEFINED WAMR_BUILD_TARGET)
diff --git a/samples/basic/src/free_buffer_early.c b/samples/basic/src/free_buffer_early.c
index c4d71d18f..b55b6eb1d 100644
--- a/samples/basic/src/free_buffer_early.c
+++ b/samples/basic/src/free_buffer_early.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 #include "wasm_export.h"
 #include "bh_read_file.h"
+#include "bh_getopt.h"
 
 void
 my_log(uint32 log_level, const char *file, int line, const char *fmt, ...)
diff --git a/wamr-compiler/CMakeLists.txt b/wamr-compiler/CMakeLists.txt
index 0ce647394..da02ece00 100644
--- a/wamr-compiler/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/wamr-compiler/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ if (NOT WAMR_BUILD_PLATFORM STREQUAL "windows")
 else()
   project (aot-compiler C ASM CXX)
   enable_language (ASM_MASM)
-  add_definitions(-DCOMPILING_WASM_RUNTIME_API=1)
 endif()
 
 set (CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)