diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8cc4fb2b..4365e6fe 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -83,19 +83,23 @@ option(HELLOIMGUI_USE_SDL_DIRECTX12 "Build HelloImGui for SDL2+DirectX12" OFF)
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Options / Freetype
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-option(HELLOIMGUI_USE_FREETYPE "Use freetype for text rendering" OFF)
+option(HELLOIMGUI_USE_FREETYPE "Use freetype for text rendering" ON)
 
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Automatic download of Glfw3 and SDL2 (provided as a convenience)
+# Automatic download of Glfw3, SDL2, and Freetype (provided as a convenience)
 # (disabled by default on Linux, which prefers to use the system libraries,
 # enabled by default on other platforms)
-# Note: SDL and Glfw3 will be downloaded if:
+# Note:
+# - SDL and Glfw3 will be downloaded if:
 #   - HELLOIMGUI_DOWNLOAD_GLFW_IF_NEEDED or HELLOIMGUI_DOWNLOAD_SDL_IF_NEEDED is ON
 #   - HELLOIMGUI_USE_SDL_XXXX or HELLOIMGUI_USE_GLFW_XXXX is ON
 #   - find_package(glfw3 or SDL2) fails. If a system library is found, or a user library provided
 #     in a path added to CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH, it will be used instead
 #   - In the case of Glfw3, if a target named glfw is already defined, it will be used instead
+# - Freetype will be downloaded if:
+#   - HELLOIMGUI_DOWNLOAD_FREETYPE is ON, HELLOIMGUI_USE_FREETYPE is ON, and find_package(freetype) fails
+#   - Or of HELLOIMGUI_FREETYPE_STATIC is ON
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "Linux")
     set(autodownload_default OFF)
@@ -104,6 +108,9 @@ else()
 endif()
 option(HELLOIMGUI_DOWNLOAD_GLFW_IF_NEEDED "Download and build GLFW if needed" ${autodownload_default})
 option(HELLOIMGUI_DOWNLOAD_SDL_IF_NEEDED "Download and build GLFW if needed" ${autodownload_default})
+option(HELLOIMGUI_DOWNLOAD_FREETYPE_IF_NEEDED "Download and build Freetype if needed" ${autodownload_default})
+
+option(HELLOIMGUI_FREETYPE_STATIC "Force static linking of freetype (only used for python bindings)" OFF)
 
 
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/hello_imgui_cmake/hello_imgui_build_lib.cmake b/hello_imgui_cmake/hello_imgui_build_lib.cmake
index 5539ab8c..3db62c72 100644
--- a/hello_imgui_cmake/hello_imgui_build_lib.cmake
+++ b/hello_imgui_cmake/hello_imgui_build_lib.cmake
@@ -91,24 +91,50 @@ function(_him_add_freetype_to_imgui)
 
     # Note: also change add_imgui.cmake in bundle!
 
-    include(FetchContent)
+    #
+    # 1. Build or find freetype (if downloaded, make sure it is static)
+    #
+    set(download_freetype OFF)
+    if (HELLOIMGUI_DOWNLOAD_FREETYPE_IF_NEEDED)
+        find_package(freetype QUIET)
+        if (NOT freetype_FOUND)
+            set(download_freetype ON)
+        endif()
+    endif()
+    if(HELLOIMGUI_FREETYPE_STATIC)
+        set(download_freetype ON)
+    endif()
 
-    # Get freetype
-    include(FetchContent)
-    FetchContent_Declare(
-        freetype
-        GIT_REPOSITORY https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freetype/freetype.git
-        GIT_TAG        VER-2-13-2
-        GIT_PROGRESS TRUE
-    )
-    FetchContent_MakeAvailable(freetype)
-    target_link_libraries(imgui PUBLIC freetype)
+    if (download_freetype)
+        message(STATUS "HelloImGui: downloading and building freetype")
+
+        set(backup_shared_lib ${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS})
+        set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
 
-#    find_package(Freetype REQUIRED)
-#    target_link_libraries(imgui PUBLIC Freetype::Freetype)
+        include(FetchContent)
+        FetchContent_Declare(
+            freetype
+            GIT_REPOSITORY https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freetype/freetype.git
+            GIT_TAG        VER-2-13-2
+            GIT_PROGRESS TRUE
+        )
+        FetchContent_MakeAvailable(freetype)
+        set(freetype_linked_library freetype)
+
+        set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ${backup_shared_lib} CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
+    else()
+        find_package(Freetype REQUIRED)
+        set(freetype_linked_library Freetype::Freetype)
+    endif()
 
+    target_link_libraries(imgui PUBLIC ${freetype_linked_library})
 
+    #
+    # 2. Build lunasvg (static)
+    #
     # Fetch and build lunasvg
+    set(backup_shared_lib ${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS})
+    set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
     include(FetchContent)
     FetchContent_Declare(lunasvg
         GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/sammycage/lunasvg
@@ -117,13 +143,15 @@ function(_him_add_freetype_to_imgui)
     )
     FetchContent_MakeAvailable(lunasvg)
     target_link_libraries(imgui PUBLIC lunasvg)
+    set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ${backup_shared_lib} CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
 
-    # Add freetype support to imgui
+    #
+    # 3. Add freetype and LunaSvg support to imgui
+    #    with support for wchar32 (for emojis, and other unicode characters)
     target_sources(imgui PRIVATE
         ${HELLOIMGUI_IMGUI_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/freetype/imgui_freetype.cpp
         ${HELLOIMGUI_IMGUI_SOURCE_DIR}/misc/freetype/imgui_freetype.h)
     target_compile_definitions(imgui PUBLIC IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE_LUNASVG)
-
     target_compile_definitions(imgui PUBLIC IMGUI_USE_WCHAR32)
 endfunction()