diff --git a/Common/Context.cpp b/Common/Context.cpp
index 117364945df103e7e629a61ac7775afaeff914d5..79db6610b3eff56a731c13bf67f99121298338d6 100644
--- a/Common/Context.cpp
+++ b/Common/Context.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
 #include "Context.h"
 #include "Trackball.h"
 
+// the single static option context
+Context_T CTX;
+
 void Context_T::buildRotationMatrix(void)
 {
   if(useTrackball) {
diff --git a/Common/Gmsh.cpp b/Common/Gmsh.cpp
index 07ad8d3def7add052515393e14a438c9c6d7a7e2..8a1f2a77733e7c8ba1e303e77e553c1596e66b7d 100644
--- a/Common/Gmsh.cpp
+++ b/Common/Gmsh.cpp
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #include "PluginManager.h"
 #endif
 
-Context_T CTX;
+extern Context_T CTX;
 
 int GmshInitialize(int argc, char **argv)
 {