diff --git a/cmake/BLTMacros.cmake b/cmake/BLTMacros.cmake
index 07e15995a..a7344c194 100644
--- a/cmake/BLTMacros.cmake
+++ b/cmake/BLTMacros.cmake
@@ -897,8 +897,8 @@ endmacro(blt_find_libraries)
 ## 
 ## The LINK_PREPEND argument will be prepended to the library on the link line,
 ## while the LINK_POSTPEND will be appended to the libray on the link line. These
-## values are typically "-Wl,--whole-archive", and "-Wl,--no-whole-archive" 
-## on linux systems
+## values are defaulted to the appropriate values for CMAKE_HOST_APPLE and 
+## CMAKE_HOST_UNIX. CMAKE_HOST_WIN32 is not yet supported.
 ##
 ##------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 macro(blt_combine_static_libraries)
@@ -922,12 +922,41 @@ macro(blt_combine_static_libraries)
     if( NOT arg_SOURCE_LIBS )
         message(FATAL_ERROR "blt_combine_static_libraries(NAME ${arg_NAME} ...) called with no given source libraries")
     endif()
-
+    
+    if( NOT arg_LINK_PREPEND )
+        if( CMAKE_HOST_APPLE )
+            set( _link_prepend "-Wl,-force_load" )
+        elseif( CMAKE_HOST_UNIX )
+            set( _link_prepend "-Wl,--whole-archive" )
+        elseif( CMAKE_HOST_WIN32 )
+            set( _link_prepend "/WHOLEARCHIVE:" )
+        else()
+            message(FATAL_ERROR "blt_combine_static_libraries does not support ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM}")
+        endif()
+    else()
+        set( _link_prepend ${arg_LINK_PREPEND})
+    endif()
+    
+    
+    if( NOT arg_LINK_POSTPEND )
+        if( CMAKE_HOST_APPLE )
+            set( _link_postpend "" )
+        elseif( CMAKE_HOST_UNIX )
+            set( _link_postpend "-Wl,--no-whole-archive" )
+        elseif( CMAKE_HOST_WIN32 )
+            set( _link_postpend "" )
+        else()
+            message(FATAL_ERROR "blt_combine_static_libraries does not support ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM}")
+        endif()
+    else()
+        set( _link_postpend ${arg_LINK_POSTPEND})
+    endif()
+    
     set( libLinkLine "" )
     foreach( lib ${arg_SOURCE_LIBS} )
-        list( APPEND libLinkLine ${arg_LINK_PREPEND} ${lib} ${arg_LINK_POSTPEND} )
+        list( APPEND libLinkLine ${_link_prepend} ${lib} ${_link_postpend} )
     endforeach()
-
+    
     if( ${arg_LIB_TYPE} STREQUAL "STATIC" )
         set( _lib_type STATIC )
     elseif( ${arg_LIB_TYPE} STREQUAL "SHARED" ) 
@@ -935,7 +964,7 @@ macro(blt_combine_static_libraries)
     else()
         message(FATAL_ERROR "blt_combine_static_libraries(NAME ${arg_NAME} ...) LIB_TYPE must be SHARED OR STATIC")
     endif()
-        
+    
     add_library ( ${arg_NAME} ${_lib_type} ${BLT_ROOT_DIR}/tests/internal/src/combine_static_library_test/dummy.cpp)
     target_link_libraries( ${arg_NAME} PRIVATE ${libLinkLine})
     blt_register_library( NAME ${arg_NAME}
diff --git a/tests/internal/src/combine_static_library_test/main.cpp b/tests/internal/src/combine_static_library_test/main.cpp
index c4c57410e..6d147af1a 100644
--- a/tests/internal/src/combine_static_library_test/main.cpp
+++ b/tests/internal/src/combine_static_library_test/main.cpp
@@ -7,9 +7,11 @@ int main( int , char **  )
 {
   Foo1 foo1;
   Foo2 foo2;
+  Foo3 foo3;
 
   std::cout<<foo1.output()<<std::endl;
   std::cout<<foo2.output()<<std::endl;
+  std::cout<<foo3.output()<<std::endl;
 
   return 0;
 }