diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 12d4a94fc..9505ee14f 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -273,12 +273,12 @@ jobs:
           ./sst_dump --help | grep -E -q 'Supported compression types: kNoCompression$' # Verify no compiled in compression
       - post-steps
 
-  build-linux-shared_lib-alt_namespace-status_checked:
+  build-linux-static_lib-alt_namespace-status_checked:
     executor: linux-docker
     resource_class: 2xlarge
     steps:
       - pre-steps
-      - run: ASSERT_STATUS_CHECKED=1 TEST_UINT128_COMPAT=1 ROCKSDB_MODIFY_NPHASH=1 LIB_MODE=shared OPT="-DROCKSDB_NAMESPACE=alternative_rocksdb_ns" make V=1 -j32 check
+      - run: ASSERT_STATUS_CHECKED=1 TEST_UINT128_COMPAT=1 ROCKSDB_MODIFY_NPHASH=1 LIB_MODE=static OPT="-DROCKSDB_NAMESPACE=alternative_rocksdb_ns" make V=1 -j32 check
       - post-steps
 
   build-linux-release:
@@ -286,11 +286,17 @@ jobs:
     resource_class: 2xlarge
     steps:
       - checkout # check out the code in the project directory
-      - run: make V=1 -j32 release
+      - run: make V=1 -j32 LIB_MODE=shared release
+      - run: ./db_stress --version # ensure with gflags
+      - run: make clean
+      - run: make V=1 -j32 LIB_MODE=static release
       - run: ./db_stress --version # ensure with gflags
       - run: make clean
       - run: apt-get remove -y libgflags-dev
-      - run: make V=1 -j32 release
+      - run: make V=1 -j32 LIB_MODE=shared release
+      - run: if ./db_stress --version; then false; else true; fi # ensure without gflags
+      - run: make clean
+      - run: make V=1 -j32 LIB_MODE=static release
       - run: if ./db_stress --version; then false; else true; fi # ensure without gflags
       - post-steps
 
@@ -421,7 +427,7 @@ jobs:
       - pre-steps
       - setup-folly
       - build-folly
-      - run: USE_FOLLY=1 CC=gcc-7 CXX=g++-7 V=1 make -j32 check
+      - run: USE_FOLLY=1 LIB_MODE=static CC=gcc-7 CXX=g++-7 V=1 make -j32 check # TODO: LIB_MODE only to work around unresolved linker failures
       - post-steps
 
   build-linux-gcc-7-with-folly-lite-no-test:
@@ -467,7 +473,7 @@ jobs:
     resource_class: 2xlarge
     steps:
       - pre-steps
-      - run: CC=gcc-11 CXX=g++-11 V=1 make -j32 all microbench
+      - run: LIB_MODE=static CC=gcc-11 CXX=g++-11 V=1 make -j32 all microbench # TODO: LIB_MODE only to work around unresolved linker failures
       - post-steps
 
   build-linux-clang-13-no_test_run:
@@ -809,7 +815,7 @@ workflows:
       - build-linux-clang10-asan
       - build-linux-clang10-ubsan
       - build-linux-clang10-mini-tsan
-      - build-linux-shared_lib-alt_namespace-status_checked
+      - build-linux-static_lib-alt_namespace-status_checked
   jobs-linux-no-test-run:
     jobs:
       - build-linux-release
diff --git a/HISTORY.md b/HISTORY.md
index fc259b92b..0b4634885 100644
--- a/HISTORY.md
+++ b/HISTORY.md
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
 * Completely removed the following deprecated/obsolete statistics: the tickers `BLOCK_CACHE_INDEX_BYTES_EVICT`, `BLOCK_CACHE_FILTER_BYTES_EVICT`, `BLOOM_FILTER_MICROS`, `NO_FILE_CLOSES`, `STALL_L0_SLOWDOWN_MICROS`, `STALL_MEMTABLE_COMPACTION_MICROS`, `STALL_L0_NUM_FILES_MICROS`, `RATE_LIMIT_DELAY_MILLIS`, `NO_ITERATORS`, `NUMBER_FILTERED_DELETES`, `WRITE_TIMEDOUT`, `BLOB_DB_GC_NUM_KEYS_OVERWRITTEN`, `BLOB_DB_GC_NUM_KEYS_EXPIRED`, `BLOB_DB_GC_BYTES_OVERWRITTEN`, `BLOB_DB_GC_BYTES_EXPIRED`, `BLOCK_CACHE_COMPRESSION_DICT_BYTES_EVICT` as well as the histograms `STALL_L0_SLOWDOWN_COUNT`, `STALL_MEMTABLE_COMPACTION_COUNT`, `STALL_L0_NUM_FILES_COUNT`, `HARD_RATE_LIMIT_DELAY_COUNT`, `SOFT_RATE_LIMIT_DELAY_COUNT`, `BLOB_DB_GC_MICROS`, and `NUM_DATA_BLOCKS_READ_PER_LEVEL`. Note that as a result, the C++ enum values of the still supported statistics have changed. Developers are advised to not rely on the actual numeric values.
 * Deprecated IngestExternalFileOptions::write_global_seqno and change default to false. This option only needs to be set to true to generate a DB compatible with RocksDB versions before 5.16.0.
 
+### Build Changes
+* The `make` build now builds a shared library by default instead of a static library. Use `LIB_MODE=static` to override.
+
 ## 7.10.0 (01/23/2023)
 ### Behavior changes
 * Make best-efforts recovery verify SST unique ID before Version construction (#10962)
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9964d7d3e..54751bde9 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@ DEBUG_LEVEL?=1
 # Mode "static" means to link against static libraries (.a)
 # Mode "shared" means to link against shared libraries (.so, .sl, .dylib, etc)
 #
-# Set the default LIB_MODE to static
-LIB_MODE?=static
+# Set the default LIB_MODE to shared for efficient `make check` etc.
+LIB_MODE?=shared
 
 # OBJ_DIR is where the object files reside.  Default to the current directory
 OBJ_DIR?=.