diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 277cdfe81e55..b645322aaeef 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -146,6 +146,9 @@ IF (WIN32)
   SET (QGIS_INCLUDE_DIR ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include)
   SET (QGIS_SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})
   IF(MSVC)
+    #tell msvc compiler to use main instead of winmain as the
+    #application entry point
+    SET(QT_USE_QTMAIN TRUE) 
     # Turn on defines for non standard maths stuff
     ADD_DEFINITIONS(-D_USE_MATH_DEFINES)
 
diff --git a/src/app/CMakeLists.txt b/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
index f52d41f59e77..52bcba75930d 100644
--- a/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/app/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -208,13 +208,21 @@ ENDIF (PYTHON_FOUND)
 
 #############
 
-ADD_EXECUTABLE(qgis ${QGIS_APP_SRCS} ${QGIS_APP_MOC_SRCS})
+IF (WIN32)
+  ADD_EXECUTABLE(qgis ${QGIS_APP_SRCS} ${QGIS_APP_MOC_SRCS} WIN32)
+ELSEIF (WIN32)
+  ADD_EXECUTABLE(qgis ${QGIS_APP_SRCS} ${QGIS_APP_MOC_SRCS})
+ENDIF (WIN32)
 
 TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis
   ${QT_LIBRARIES}
   qgis_core
   qgis_gui
   )
+IF (MSVC)
+  #This resolves issues like cant find winmain etc
+  TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(qgis qtmain)
+ENDIF (MSVC)
 
 SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(qgis PROPERTIES
   INSTALL_RPATH ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib