diff --git a/cmake/SetLibtoolAbiVersion.cmake b/cmake/SetLibtoolAbiVersion.cmake
index 6ae19d38..8665daa7 100644
--- a/cmake/SetLibtoolAbiVersion.cmake
+++ b/cmake/SetLibtoolAbiVersion.cmake
@@ -1,28 +1,45 @@
-# This emulates Libtool to make sure Libtool and CMake agree on the ABI version,
-# see below "Calculate the version variables" in autotools-aux/ltmain.sh.
+#[=[
+This emulates Libtool to make sure Libtool and CMake agree on
+the ABI version and file naming for shared libraries.
+
+The `version_type` variable is set in `libtool.m4` (installed
+by autoreconf into autotools-aux/m4/).
+For the `major` and `versuffix` variables, see below "Calculate
+the version variables" in `ltmain.sh` (installed by autoreconf
+into autotools-aux/).
+]=]
 function(set_libtool_abi_version target current revision age)
-  math(EXPR _soversion "${current} - ${age}")
-  set_target_properties(${target} PROPERTIES
-    SOVERSION ${_soversion}
-  )
   if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME MATCHES "^(Linux|FreeBSD)$")
+    # version_type = linux | freebsd-elf
+    # major = $current - $age
+    # versuffix = $major.$age.$revision
+    math(EXPR _major "${current} - ${age}")
     set_target_properties(${target} PROPERTIES
-      VERSION ${_soversion}.${age}.${revision}
+      SOVERSION ${_major}
+      VERSION ${_major}.${age}.${revision}
     )
   elseif(APPLE)
+    # version_type = darwin
+    # major = $current - $age
+    math(EXPR _major "${current} - ${age}")
     math(EXPR _compatibility "${current} + 1")
     set_target_properties(${target} PROPERTIES
+      SOVERSION ${_major}
       MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION ${_compatibility}
       MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION ${_compatibility}.${revision}
     )
   elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
+    # version_type = windows
+    # major = $current - $age
+    # versuffix = $major
+    math(EXPR _major "${current} - ${age}")
     set(_windows_name "secp256k1")
     if(MSVC)
       set(_windows_name "${PROJECT_NAME}")
     endif()
     set_target_properties(${target} PROPERTIES
       ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME "${_windows_name}"
-      RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME "${_windows_name}-${_soversion}"
+      RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME "${_windows_name}-${_major}"
     )
   endif()
 endfunction()