diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9679f88..9f8f0af 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -116,6 +116,11 @@ elseif(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "MSVC")
         add_definitions(/arch:AVX)
         add_definitions(-DUSE_AVX)
     endif()
+    # boost feels like using lib pragmas to link to libs,
+    # but the boost libs might not even be in the (default) lib search path
+    add_definitions(-DBOOST_ALL_NO_LIB)
+    # macro turns std::min into errors...
+    add_definitions(-DNOMINMAX)
 endif()
 
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