diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 78865aa53..0b09ff1ec 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC OR CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX)
   add_definitions(-fPIC) # this is a very important switch and some libraries seem now to have it....
   ## hide all not-exported symbols
   add_definitions( -fvisibility=hidden -Wall )
+elseif(MSVC)
+  # enable multi-core compilation with MSVC
+  add_definitions(/MP)
 endif()
 
 INCLUDE (FindPkgConfig)