diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 912a7f9..f345271 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ endif
 ifdef STATIC
 LIBGRAY := $(LIBGRAY:so=a)
 LIBRARIES := $(LIBRARIES:so=a)
+ifndef SEMISTATIC
 LDFLAGS += -static
+endif
 else
 LDFLAGS += -Wl,-rpath '$$ORIGIN/../lib/'
 endif
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 05f68d4..e787e6c 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ done
 printf 'Running on '
 case $(uname -s) in
   Linux*) echo 'Linux' ;;
-  Darwin*) echo 'Mac' ;;
+  Darwin*)
+    echo 'macOS'
+    # static libc is not available on macOS
+    printf 'SEMISTATIC=1\n' >> configure.mk ;;
   CYGWIN*|MSYS*|MINGW*) echo 'Windows' ;;
   *) echo 'unknown OS' ;;
 esac