diff --git a/include/aws/crt/Exports.h b/include/aws/crt/Exports.h
index bd171dc73..1d9d3369a 100644
--- a/include/aws/crt/Exports.h
+++ b/include/aws/crt/Exports.h
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
 #    else
 #        define AWS_CRT_CPP_API
 #    endif // AWS_CRT_CPP_USE_IMPORT_EXPORT
+#    define AWS_CRT_CPP_TEMPLATE_DECLARATION extern template class
+#    define AWS_CRT_CPP_TEMPLATE_DEFINITION template class AWS_CRT_CPP_API
 
 #else // defined (USE_WINDOWS_DLL_SEMANTICS) || defined (WIN32)
 #    if ((__GNUC__ >= 4) || defined(__clang__)) && defined(AWS_CRT_CPP_USE_IMPORT_EXPORT) &&                           \
@@ -36,4 +38,6 @@
 #    else
 #        define AWS_CRT_CPP_API
 #    endif // __GNUC__ >= 4 || defined(__clang__)
+#    define AWS_CRT_CPP_TEMPLATE_DECLARATION extern template class AWS_CRT_CPP_API
+#    define AWS_CRT_CPP_TEMPLATE_DEFINITION template class AWS_CRT_CPP_API
 #endif
diff --git a/include/aws/crt/Types.h b/include/aws/crt/Types.h
index 45d086258..2e543e325 100644
--- a/include/aws/crt/Types.h
+++ b/include/aws/crt/Types.h
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ struct aws_byte_buf;
 struct aws_byte_cursor;
 struct aws_socket_options;
 
-extern template class std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, Aws::Crt::StlAllocator<char>>;
+AWS_CRT_CPP_TEMPLATE_DECLARATION std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, Aws::Crt::StlAllocator<char>>;
 
 namespace Aws
 {
diff --git a/source/Types.cpp b/source/Types.cpp
index 042479c25..a861807d5 100644
--- a/source/Types.cpp
+++ b/source/Types.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <aws/common/encoding.h>
 
-template class AWS_CRT_CPP_API std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, Aws::Crt::StlAllocator<char>>;
+AWS_CRT_CPP_TEMPLATE_DEFINITION std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, Aws::Crt::StlAllocator<char>>;
 
 namespace Aws
 {