diff --git a/cargo-dist/src/config.rs b/cargo-dist/src/config.rs
index d4ac625a6..e2fb8ef0f 100644
--- a/cargo-dist/src/config.rs
+++ b/cargo-dist/src/config.rs
@@ -126,6 +126,13 @@ pub struct DistMetadata {
     #[serde(rename = "auto-includes")]
     pub auto_includes: Option<bool>,
 
+    /// Whether msvc targets should statically link the crt
+    ///
+    /// Defaults to true.
+    #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
+    #[serde(rename = "msvc-crt-static")]
+    pub msvc_crt_static: Option<bool>,
+
     /// The archive format to use for windows builds (defaults .zip)
     #[serde(skip_serializing_if = "Option::is_none")]
     #[serde(rename = "windows-archive")]
@@ -306,6 +313,7 @@ impl DistMetadata {
             pr_run_mode: _,
             allow_dirty: _,
             ssldotcom_windows_sign: _,
+            msvc_crt_static: _,
         } = self;
         if let Some(include) = include {
             for include in include {
@@ -349,6 +357,7 @@ impl DistMetadata {
             pr_run_mode,
             allow_dirty,
             ssldotcom_windows_sign,
+            msvc_crt_static,
         } = self;
 
         // Check for global settings on local packages
@@ -387,6 +396,9 @@ impl DistMetadata {
         if ssldotcom_windows_sign.is_some() {
             warn!("package.metadata.dist.ssldotcom-windows-sign is set, but this is only accepted in workspace.metadata (value is being ignored): {}", package_manifest_path);
         }
+        if msvc_crt_static.is_some() {
+            warn!("package.metadata.dist.msvc-crt-static is set, but this is only accepted in workspace.metadata (value is being ignored): {}", package_manifest_path);
+        }
 
         // Merge non-global settings
         if installers.is_none() {
diff --git a/cargo-dist/src/init.rs b/cargo-dist/src/init.rs
index 8d894a9c0..95b1d3c80 100644
--- a/cargo-dist/src/init.rs
+++ b/cargo-dist/src/init.rs
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ fn get_new_dist_metadata(
             pr_run_mode: None,
             allow_dirty: None,
             ssldotcom_windows_sign: None,
+            msvc_crt_static: None,
         }
     };
 
@@ -740,6 +741,7 @@ fn apply_dist_to_metadata(metadata: &mut toml_edit::Item, meta: &DistMetadata) {
         pr_run_mode,
         allow_dirty,
         ssldotcom_windows_sign,
+        msvc_crt_static,
     } = &meta;
 
     apply_optional_value(
@@ -912,6 +914,13 @@ fn apply_dist_to_metadata(metadata: &mut toml_edit::Item, meta: &DistMetadata) {
         allow_dirty.as_ref(),
     );
 
+    apply_optional_value(
+        table,
+        "msvc-crt-static",
+        "Whether +crt-static should be used on msvc\n",
+        *msvc_crt_static,
+    );
+
     apply_optional_value(
         table,
         "ssldotcom-windows-sign",
diff --git a/cargo-dist/src/tasks.rs b/cargo-dist/src/tasks.rs
index ab019f0b0..ed341bb29 100644
--- a/cargo-dist/src/tasks.rs
+++ b/cargo-dist/src/tasks.rs
@@ -209,6 +209,8 @@ pub struct DistGraph {
     pub publish_prereleases: bool,
     /// A GitHub repo to publish the Homebrew formula to
     pub tap: Option<String>,
+    /// Whether msvc targets should statically link the crt
+    pub msvc_crt_static: bool,
 }
 
 /// Various tools we have found installed on the system
@@ -663,11 +665,12 @@ impl<'pkg_graph> DistGraphBuilder<'pkg_graph> {
             publish_jobs: _,
             publish_prereleases,
             features,
-            default_features: no_default_features,
+            default_features,
             all_features,
             create_release,
             pr_run_mode: _,
             allow_dirty,
+            msvc_crt_static,
         } = &workspace_metadata;
 
         let desired_cargo_dist_version = cargo_dist_version.clone();
@@ -678,6 +681,7 @@ impl<'pkg_graph> DistGraphBuilder<'pkg_graph> {
         let merge_tasks = merge_tasks.unwrap_or(false);
         let fail_fast = fail_fast.unwrap_or(false);
         let create_release = create_release.unwrap_or(true);
+        let msvc_crt_static = msvc_crt_static.unwrap_or(true);
         let ssldotcom_windows_sign = ssldotcom_windows_sign.clone();
         let mut packages_with_mismatched_features = vec![];
         // Compute/merge package configs
@@ -693,7 +697,7 @@ impl<'pkg_graph> DistGraphBuilder<'pkg_graph> {
             // Only do workspace builds if all the packages agree with the workspace feature settings
             if &package_config.features != features
                 || &package_config.all_features != all_features
-                || &package_config.default_features != no_default_features
+                || &package_config.default_features != default_features
             {
                 packages_with_mismatched_features.push(package.name.clone());
             }
@@ -779,6 +783,7 @@ impl<'pkg_graph> DistGraphBuilder<'pkg_graph> {
                 user_publish_jobs,
                 publish_prereleases,
                 allow_dirty,
+                msvc_crt_static,
             },
             package_metadata,
             workspace_metadata,
@@ -1964,7 +1969,16 @@ impl<'pkg_graph> DistGraphBuilder<'pkg_graph> {
 
             // You're *supposed* to link libc statically on windows but Rust has a bad default.
             // See: https://rust-lang.github.io/rfcs/1721-crt-static.html
-            if target.contains("windows-msvc") {
+            //
+            // ... well ok it's actually more complicated than that. Most rust applications
+            // don't dynamically link anything non-trivial, so statically linking libc is fine.
+            // However if you need to dynamically link stuff there starts to be issues about
+            // agreeing to the crt in play. At that point you should ship a
+            // Visual C(++) Redistributable that installs the version of the runtime you depend
+            // on. Not doing that is basically rolling some dice and hoping the user already
+            // has it installed, which isn't great. We should support redists eventually,
+            // but for now this hacky global flag is here to let you roll dice.
+            if self.inner.msvc_crt_static && target.contains("windows-msvc") {
                 rustflags.push_str(" -Ctarget-feature=+crt-static");
             }