diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c99273c6f..8316b2339 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 # along with WeeChat.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 #
 
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.12)
 
 project(weechat C)
 
@@ -242,14 +242,12 @@ endif()
 # Check for CURL
 find_package(CURL REQUIRED)
 
-# weechat_gui_common MUST be the first lib in the list
-set(STATIC_LIBS weechat_gui_common)
+set(STATIC_LIBS weechat_plugins)
 
 find_library(DL_LIBRARY
   NAMES dl
   PATHS /lib /usr/lib /usr/libexec /usr/local/lib /usr/local/libexec
 )
-list(APPEND STATIC_LIBS weechat_plugins)
 if(DL_LIBRARY)
   string(REGEX REPLACE "/[^/]*$" "" DL_LIBRARY_PATH "${DL_LIBRARY}")
   set(CMAKE_C_LINK_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_LINK_FLAGS} -L${DL_LIBRARY_PATH}")
diff --git a/src/core/CMakeLists.txt b/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
index 5c88708c3..c2944d1c5 100644
--- a/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -100,6 +100,6 @@ if(ENABLE_CJSON)
 endif()
 
 include_directories("${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}")
-add_library(weechat_core STATIC ${LIB_CORE_SRC})
+add_library(weechat_core OBJECT ${LIB_CORE_SRC})
 target_link_libraries(weechat_core coverage_config)
 add_dependencies(weechat_core version_git)
diff --git a/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt b/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
index dffab6415..6ccbc254b 100644
--- a/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ set(LIB_GUI_COMMON_SRC
 )
 
 include_directories("${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}")
-add_library(weechat_gui_common STATIC ${LIB_GUI_COMMON_SRC})
+add_library(weechat_gui_common OBJECT ${LIB_GUI_COMMON_SRC})
 target_link_libraries(weechat_gui_common coverage_config)
 list(APPEND STATIC_LIBS weechat_gui_common)
 
diff --git a/src/gui/curses/headless/CMakeLists.txt b/src/gui/curses/headless/CMakeLists.txt
index cd79c32f4..6f65ccbfd 100644
--- a/src/gui/curses/headless/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/gui/curses/headless/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -55,9 +55,7 @@ add_dependencies(${EXECUTABLE}
   weechat_ncurses_fake
 )
 
-# Due to circular references, we must link two times with libweechat_core.a and libweechat_gui_common.a
 target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE}
-  ${STATIC_LIBS}
   weechat_gui_headless
   weechat_ncurses_fake
   ${EXTRA_LIBS}
diff --git a/src/gui/curses/normal/CMakeLists.txt b/src/gui/curses/normal/CMakeLists.txt
index 16483a219..3fa7436b0 100644
--- a/src/gui/curses/normal/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/gui/curses/normal/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -58,8 +58,12 @@ add_dependencies(${EXECUTABLE} weechat_gui_curses_normal)
 
 list(APPEND EXTRA_LIBS ${NCURSES_LIBRARY})
 
-# Due to circular references, we must link two times with libweechat_core.a and libweechat_gui_common.a
-target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE} ${STATIC_LIBS} weechat_gui_curses_normal ${EXTRA_LIBS} ${STATIC_LIBS} coverage_config)
+target_link_libraries(${EXECUTABLE}
+  weechat_gui_curses_normal
+  ${EXTRA_LIBS}
+  ${STATIC_LIBS}
+  coverage_config
+)
 
 # Create a symbolic link weechat-curses -> weechat
 # This link is created for compatibility with old versions on /upgrade.
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index d6842e417..a92df7481 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -226,8 +226,6 @@ target_link_libraries(tests
   weechat_gui_headless
   weechat_ncurses_fake
   weechat_unit_tests_core
-  # due to circular references, we must link two times with libweechat_core.a
-  weechat_core
   ${EXTRA_LIBS}
   ${CURL_LIBRARIES}
   ${ZLIB_LIBRARY}