diff --git a/examples/common/foo_library/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/common/foo_library/CMakeLists.txt
index 8f62a4d7da..2942d78c87 100644
--- a/examples/common/foo_library/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/examples/common/foo_library/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ set_target_version(common_foo_library)
 
 if(DEFINED OPENTELEMETRY_BUILD_DLL)
   message(STATUS "OPENTELEMETRY_BUILD_DLL for common_foo_library")
+  target_compile_definitions(common_foo_library PRIVATE OPENTELEMETRY_BUILD_IMPORT_DLL=1)
   target_link_libraries(common_foo_library opentelemetry_cpp)
 else()
   target_link_libraries(common_foo_library PUBLIC ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT}