diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/CMakeLists.txt
index 1bf82fa04c98..fdda1847c2da 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
 project(ESIRuntime LANGUAGES CXX)
 include(FetchContent)
 
+set(ESI_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF CACHE BOOL "Build the ESI runtime as a static library.")
+if(ESI_STATIC_RUNTIME)
+  message("-- Building ESI runtime as a static library.")
+endif()
+
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED YES)
 set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "$ORIGIN/../lib")
@@ -44,6 +49,10 @@ if (NOT TARGET nlohmann_json)
   FetchContent_MakeAvailable(json)
 endif()
 
+if(ESI_STATIC_RUNTIME)
+  set(ZLIB_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
+endif()
+
 # We need zlib to uncompress the manifest.
 find_package(ZLIB)
 if(ZLIB_FOUND)
@@ -57,7 +66,11 @@ else()
   )
   FetchContent_MakeAvailable(ZLIB)
   set(ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR ${zlib_SOURCE_DIR} ${zlib_BINARY_DIR})
-  set(ZLIB_LIBRARY zlib)
+  if(ESI_STATIC_RUNTIME)
+    set(ZLIB_LIBRARY zlibstatic)
+  else()
+    set(ZLIB_LIBRARY zlib)
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 # In a Python wheel build, we need to install libraries to different places.
@@ -118,10 +131,17 @@ IF(MSVC)
     set(CMAKE_WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS 1)
 ENDIF(MSVC)
 
-# The core API. For now, compile the backends into it directly.
-add_library(ESICppRuntime SHARED
-  ${ESICppRuntimeSources}
-)
+if(ESI_STATIC_RUNTIME)
+  add_library(ESICppRuntime STATIC
+    ${ESICppRuntimeSources}
+  )
+else()
+  add_library(ESICppRuntime SHARED
+    ${ESICppRuntimeSources}
+  )
+endif()
+add_library(esiaccel::ESICppRuntime ALIAS ESICppRuntime)
+
 target_include_directories(ESICppRuntime PUBLIC
   ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cpp/include
 )
@@ -165,10 +185,12 @@ install(TARGETS ESICppRuntime
   COMPONENT ESIRuntime
 )
 
-install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS ESICppRuntime
-  RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET ESICppRuntime_RUNTIME_DEPS
-  COMPONENT ESIRuntime
-)
+if(NOT ESI_STATIC_RUNTIME)
+  install(IMPORTED_RUNTIME_ARTIFACTS ESICppRuntime
+    RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET ESICppRuntime_RUNTIME_DEPS
+    COMPONENT ESIRuntime
+  )
+endif()
 install(RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_SET ESICppRuntime_RUNTIME_DEPS
   DESTINATION ${LIB_DIR}
   PRE_EXCLUDE_REGEXES .*
diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/include/esi/Accelerator.h b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/include/esi/Accelerator.h
index 34567c466f88..c3a1cd9da9e6 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/include/esi/Accelerator.h
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/include/esi/Accelerator.h
@@ -134,15 +134,16 @@ namespace registry {
 
 // Connect to an ESI accelerator given a backend name and connection specifier.
 // Alternatively, instantiate the backend directly (if you're using C++).
-std::unique_ptr<AcceleratorConnection>
-connect(Context &ctxt, std::string backend, std::string connection);
+std::unique_ptr<AcceleratorConnection> connect(Context &ctxt,
+                                               const std::string &backend,
+                                               const std::string &connection);
 
 namespace internal {
 
 /// Backends can register themselves to be connected via a connection string.
 using BackendCreate = std::function<std::unique_ptr<AcceleratorConnection>(
     Context &, std::string)>;
-void registerBackend(std::string name, BackendCreate create);
+void registerBackend(const std::string &name, BackendCreate create);
 
 // Helper struct to
 template <typename TAccelerator>
diff --git a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/Accelerator.cpp b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/Accelerator.cpp
index 019d734b0023..0aae47341b6e 100644
--- a/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/Accelerator.cpp
+++ b/lib/Dialect/ESI/runtime/cpp/lib/Accelerator.cpp
@@ -175,22 +175,35 @@ static void loadBackend(std::string backend) {
 namespace registry {
 namespace internal {
 
-static std::map<std::string, BackendCreate> backendRegistry;
-void registerBackend(std::string name, BackendCreate create) {
-  if (backendRegistry.count(name))
+class BackendRegistry {
+public:
+  static std::map<std::string, BackendCreate> &get() {
+    static BackendRegistry instance;
+    return instance.backendRegistry;
+  }
+
+private:
+  std::map<std::string, BackendCreate> backendRegistry;
+};
+
+void registerBackend(const std::string &name, BackendCreate create) {
+  auto &registry = BackendRegistry::get();
+  if (registry.count(name))
     throw std::runtime_error("Backend already exists in registry");
-  backendRegistry[name] = create;
+  registry[name] = create;
 }
 } // namespace internal
 
-std::unique_ptr<AcceleratorConnection>
-connect(Context &ctxt, std::string backend, std::string connection) {
-  auto f = internal::backendRegistry.find(backend);
-  if (f == internal::backendRegistry.end()) {
+std::unique_ptr<AcceleratorConnection> connect(Context &ctxt,
+                                               const std::string &backend,
+                                               const std::string &connection) {
+  auto &registry = internal::BackendRegistry::get();
+  auto f = registry.find(backend);
+  if (f == registry.end()) {
     // If it's not already found in the registry, try to load it dynamically.
     loadBackend(backend);
-    f = internal::backendRegistry.find(backend);
-    if (f == internal::backendRegistry.end())
+    f = registry.find(backend);
+    if (f == registry.end())
       throw std::runtime_error("Backend '" + backend + "' not found");
   }
   return f->second(ctxt, connection);