diff --git a/include/fmt/core.h b/include/fmt/core.h
index 5aefcc1498f8f..150517bc4b074 100644
--- a/include/fmt/core.h
+++ b/include/fmt/core.h
@@ -185,7 +185,12 @@
 #  define FMT_CLASS_API
 #endif
 #ifndef FMT_API
-#  define FMT_API
+#  if defined(_WIN32)
+#    define FMT_API
+#  else
+#    define FMT_API __attribute__((visibility("default")))
+#    define FMT_EXTERN_TEMPLATE_API FMT_API
+#  endif
 #endif
 #ifndef FMT_EXTERN_TEMPLATE_API
 #  define FMT_EXTERN_TEMPLATE_API
diff --git a/src/format.cc b/src/format.cc
index e6fde7c3a35b9..a576b70174a14 100644
--- a/src/format.cc
+++ b/src/format.cc
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ template FMT_API char* internal::sprintf_format(long double,
                                                 internal::buffer<char>&,
                                                 sprintf_specs);
 
-template struct FMT_API internal::basic_data<void>;
+template struct internal::basic_data<void>;
 
 // Workaround a bug in MSVC2013 that prevents instantiation of format_float.
 int (*instantiate_format_float)(double, int, internal::float_specs,