diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index b97d9febf..d57995cbd 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ endif()
 
 if(MSVC)
     add_compile_options(/wd4530 /utf-8) # C++ exception handler used, but unwind semantics are not enabled
-    add_compile_definitions(WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN)
 endif()
 
 
diff --git a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/Cubeb/CubebBackend.cpp b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/Cubeb/CubebBackend.cpp
index a39bad5e7..4d3ad33d6 100644
--- a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/Cubeb/CubebBackend.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/Cubeb/CubebBackend.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <windows.h>
+#include <combaseapi.h>
+#include <mmeapi.h>
 #include <system_error>
 #endif
 
diff --git a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/Cubeb/cubeb_enumerator.cpp b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/Cubeb/cubeb_enumerator.cpp
index f4d516c84..442a091b9 100644
--- a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/Cubeb/cubeb_enumerator.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/Cubeb/cubeb_enumerator.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <windows.h>
+#include <combaseapi.h>
+#include <mmeapi.h>
 #include <system_error>
 #endif
 
diff --git a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/XAudio2Backend.cpp b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/XAudio2Backend.cpp
index 32af4d494..c48a2dc7f 100644
--- a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/XAudio2Backend.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/XAudio2Backend.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 
 #include "XAudio2Backend.h"
 #include <windows.h>
+#include <combaseapi.h>
+#include <mmeapi.h>
 #include <system_error>
 
 #ifndef XAUDIO2_USE_DEFAULT_PROCESSOR
diff --git a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/xaudio2_enumerator.cpp b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/xaudio2_enumerator.cpp
index 2e8ef0cd9..fd3d611c4 100644
--- a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/xaudio2_enumerator.cpp
+++ b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/xaudio2_enumerator.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 
 #include <wrl/client.h>
 #include <windows.h>
+#include <combaseapi.h>
+#include <mmeapi.h>
 #include <system_error>
 #include <mmdeviceapi.h>
 #include <Functiondiscoverykeys_devpkey.h>
diff --git a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/CMakeLists.txt b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/CMakeLists.txt
index 30d2594ce..1b813c559 100644
--- a/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -149,6 +149,9 @@ target_sources(rpcs3_emu PRIVATE
     Audio/Cubeb/cubeb_enumerator.cpp
 )
 
+target_compile_definitions(rpcs3_emu PUBLIC WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN)
+
+
 if(USE_FAUDIO)
     find_package(SDL3)
     if(SDL3_FOUND AND SDL3_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.2.0)
diff --git a/rpcs3qt-legacy/CMakeLists.txt b/rpcs3qt-legacy/CMakeLists.txt
index f1f894714..43c0cf691 100644
--- a/rpcs3qt-legacy/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rpcs3qt-legacy/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ set_target_properties(rpcs3_ui
 # define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN resolve the problem
 # https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/winsock/creating-a-basic-winsock-application
 # https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/winprog/using-the-windows-headers#faster-builds-with-smaller-header-files
-target_compile_definitions(rpcs3_ui PRIVATE WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN)
+target_compile_definitions(rpcs3_ui PUBLIC WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN NOMINMAX)
 
 target_link_libraries(rpcs3_ui
     PUBLIC
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ if (NOT ANDROID)
     if(WIN32)
         add_executable(rpcs3qt-ui-legacy WIN32)
         target_sources(rpcs3qt-ui-legacy PRIVATE rpcs3.rc)
-        target_compile_definitions(rpcs3qt-ui-legacy PRIVATE UNICODE _UNICODE)
+        target_compile_definitions(rpcs3qt-ui-legacy PUBLIC WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN NOMINMAX UNICODE _UNICODE)
     elseif(APPLE)
         add_executable(rpcs3qt-ui-legacy MACOSX_BUNDLE)
         target_sources(rpcs3qt-ui-legacy PRIVATE rpcs3.icns update_helper.sh)