diff --git a/subtree/rabit/windows/rabit/rabit.vcxproj b/subtree/rabit/windows/rabit/rabit.vcxproj
index c9594b182..c670484d2 100644
--- a/subtree/rabit/windows/rabit/rabit.vcxproj
+++ b/subtree/rabit/windows/rabit/rabit.vcxproj
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
   </PropertyGroup>
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.Default.props" />
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|Win32'" Label="Configuration">
-    <ConfigurationType>Application</ConfigurationType>
+    <ConfigurationType>StaticLibrary</ConfigurationType>
     <UseDebugLibraries>true</UseDebugLibraries>
     <CharacterSet>MultiByte</CharacterSet>
   </PropertyGroup>
diff --git a/windows/xgboost/xgboost.vcxproj b/windows/xgboost/xgboost.vcxproj
index 00846f36a..8a15eaf61 100644
--- a/windows/xgboost/xgboost.vcxproj
+++ b/windows/xgboost/xgboost.vcxproj
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@
     <ClCompile Include="..\..\src\tree\updater.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="..\..\src\xgboost_main.cpp" />
   </ItemGroup>
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\subtree\rabit\windows\rabit\rabit.vcxproj">
+      <Project>{d7b77d06-4f5f-4bd7-b81e-7cc8ebbe684f}</Project>
+    </ProjectReference>
+  </ItemGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Label="Globals">
     <ProjectGuid>{19766C3F-7508-49D0-BAAC-0988FCC9970C}</ProjectGuid>
     <RootNamespace>xgboost</RootNamespace>