diff --git a/cmake/modules/AppTarget.cmake b/cmake/modules/AppTarget.cmake
index a44c869..e15b5d2 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/AppTarget.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/AppTarget.cmake
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ if (NOT "${META_PROJECT_TYPE}" STREQUAL "application")
     )
 endif ()
 
-# set the windows extension to "exe", this is required by the Windows-specific WindowsResources module
-if (WIN32)
-    set(WINDOWS_EXT "exe")
-endif (WIN32)
+# set the windows extension to "exe", this is required by the mingw-w64-specific WindowsResources module
+if (MINGW)
+    set(WINDOWS_EXT ".exe")
+endif ()
 
 # define relevant files
 set(ALL_FILES
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ if (MINGW
         add_custom_target(
             ${META_PROJECT_NAME}_run
             COMMAND "${CPP_UTILITIES_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts/wine.sh"
-                    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${META_PROJECT_NAME}.${WINDOWS_EXT}" ${RUNTIME_LIBRARY_PATH})
+                    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${META_PROJECT_NAME}${WINDOWS_EXT}" ${RUNTIME_LIBRARY_PATH})
         add_dependencies(${META_PROJECT_NAME}_run ${META_PROJECT_NAME})
     endif ()
 endif ()
diff --git a/cmake/modules/LibraryTarget.cmake b/cmake/modules/LibraryTarget.cmake
index a254488..b73dadd 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/LibraryTarget.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/LibraryTarget.cmake
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ if ((NOT "${META_PROJECT_TYPE}" STREQUAL "library")
     )
 endif ()
 
+# add option for enabling versioned mingw-w64 libraries (disabled by default to preserve compatibility, will be the only
+# naming scheme in v6)
+option(VERSIONED_MINGW_LIBRARIES
+       "enables versioned libraries like 'libc++utilities-5.dll' instead of 'c++utilities.dll' for mingw-w64 targets" OFF)
+
 # include packages for configure_package_config_file, write_basic_package_version_file and find_template_file
 include(CMakePackageConfigHelpers)
 include(TemplateFinder)
@@ -35,14 +40,14 @@ set(CMAKE_MODULE_INSTALL_DESTINATION "${META_DATA_DIR_ABSOLUTE}/cmake/modules")
 set(CMAKE_CONFIG_INSTALL_DESTINATION "${META_DATA_DIR_ABSOLUTE}/cmake")
 
 # remove library prefix when building with mingw-w64 (just for consistency with qmake)
-if (MINGW)
+if (MINGW AND NOT VERSIONED_MINGW_LIBRARIES)
     set(CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX "")
-endif (MINGW)
+endif ()
 
-# set the windows extension to "dll", this is required by the mingw-w64 specific WindowsResources module
+# set the Windows library suffix, this is also required by the mingw-w64 specific WindowsResources module as well
 if (MINGW)
-    set(WINDOWS_EXT "dll")
-endif (MINGW)
+    set(WINDOWS_EXT ".dll")
+endif ()
 
 # set compile definitions for static build
 if (NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
@@ -77,6 +82,13 @@ if (NOT META_SOVERSION AND NOT META_IS_PLUGIN)
     endif ()
 endif ()
 
+# incorporate the SOVERSION into the library name for mingw-w64 targets
+if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS AND NOT META_IS_PLUGIN
+    AND MINGW
+    AND VERSIONED_MINGW_LIBRARIES)
+    set(WINDOWS_EXT "-${META_SOVERSION}${WINDOWS_EXT}")
+endif ()
+
 # define relevant files
 set(ALL_FILES
     ${HEADER_FILES}
@@ -161,6 +173,11 @@ else ()
     if (META_PLUGIN_CATEGORY)
         set_target_properties(${META_TARGET_NAME} PROPERTIES LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${META_PLUGIN_CATEGORY}")
     endif ()
+    if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS AND NOT META_IS_PLUGIN
+        AND MINGW
+        AND VERSIONED_MINGW_LIBRARIES)
+        set_target_properties(${META_TARGET_NAME} PROPERTIES SUFFIX "${WINDOWS_EXT}")
+    endif ()
 endif ()
 
 # populate META_PUBLIC_LIB_DEPENDS
diff --git a/cmake/templates/windows.rc.in b/cmake/templates/windows.rc.in
index 82b5923..1abce89 100644
--- a/cmake/templates/windows.rc.in
+++ b/cmake/templates/windows.rc.in
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ VS_VERSION_INFO VERSIONINFO
                 VALUE "FileDescription", "@META_APP_DESCRIPTION@\0"
                 VALUE "FileVersion", "@META_APP_VERSION@\0"
                 VALUE "LegalCopyright", "by @META_APP_AUTHOR@\0"
-                VALUE "OriginalFilename", "@META_PROJECT_NAME@.@WINDOWS_EXT@\0"
+                VALUE "OriginalFilename", "@META_PROJECT_NAME@@WINDOWS_EXT@\0"
                 VALUE "ProductName", "@META_APP_NAME@\0"
                 VALUE "ProductVersion", "@META_APP_VERSION@\0"
             END