diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gtest/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gtest/default.nix
index 4326be597246..bbc582f581c3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gtest/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gtest/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-{ stdenv, cmake, ninja, fetchFromGitHub
-, static ? false }:
+{ stdenv, cmake, ninja, fetchFromGitHub }:
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "gtest";
@@ -20,7 +19,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake ninja ];
 
-  cmakeFlags = stdenv.lib.optional (!static) "-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON";
+  cmakeFlags = [ "-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON" ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     description = "Google's framework for writing C++ tests";
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 3c4bfa4d9ccc..b58bd06f71ae 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -10787,7 +10787,7 @@ in
   arrayfire = callPackage ../development/libraries/arrayfire {};
 
   arrow-cpp = callPackage ../development/libraries/arrow-cpp ({
-    gtest = gtest.override { static = true; };
+    inherit (pkgsStatic) gtest;
   } // stdenv.lib.optionalAttrs (stdenv.hostPlatform.isi686 && stdenv.cc.isGNU) {
     stdenv = overrideCC stdenv buildPackages.gcc6; # hidden symbol `__divmoddi4'
   });
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/static.nix b/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
index ffb2d294437d..aa31996b8724 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/static.nix
@@ -196,9 +196,6 @@ in {
   glog = super.glog.override {
     static = true;
   };
-  gtest = super.gtest.override {
-    static = true;
-  };
   cdo = super.cdo.override {
     enable_all_static = true;
   };