diff --git a/examples/aws/awsiot.c b/examples/aws/awsiot.c
index a72c4579..398ecb14 100644
--- a/examples/aws/awsiot.c
+++ b/examples/aws/awsiot.c
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ static int mTestDone = 0;
 #define AWSIOT_PUBLISH_MSG_SZ   400
 
 /* Demo Certificates */
-static const char* root_ca =
+WOLFMQTT_EXAMPLE_CERT const char* root_ca =
 "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n"
 "MIIE0zCCA7ugAwIBAgIQGNrRniZ96LtKIVjNzGs7SjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADCB\n"
 "yjELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxFzAVBgNVBAoTDlZlcmlTaWduLCBJbmMuMR8wHQYDVQQL\n"
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ static const char* device_pub_key =
 "-----END PUBLIC KEY-----";
 #endif
 
-static const char* device_priv_key =
+WOLFMQTT_EXAMPLE_CERT const char* device_priv_key =
 #ifndef WOLFSSL_ENCRYPTED_KEYS
 "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\n"
 "MIIEpAIBAAKCAQEAqsAKVhbfQEWblC8PvgubqpJasVoCEsSfvLF4b5DIAsoMeieP\n"
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ static const char* device_priv_key =
 "-----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----";
 #endif
 
-static const char* device_cert =
+WOLFMQTT_EXAMPLE_CERT const char* device_cert =
 "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n"
 "MIIDWjCCAkKgAwIBAgIVANIzUucLFUREa2BiJUXoRv6Z4XaIMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEB\n"
 "CwUAME0xSzBJBgNVBAsMQkFtYXpvbiBXZWIgU2VydmljZXMgTz1BbWF6b24uY29t\n"
diff --git a/examples/mqttexample.h b/examples/mqttexample.h
index 6bdb427b..58122518 100644
--- a/examples/mqttexample.h
+++ b/examples/mqttexample.h
@@ -96,6 +96,18 @@
 #define DEFAULT_SESS_EXP_INT    0xFFFFFFFF
 #endif
 
+/* certs are either static or extern, depending on the specific example */
+#ifdef WOLFMQTT_EXTERN_CERT
+    #undef  WOLFMQTT_EXAMPLE_CERT
+    #define WOLFMQTT_EXAMPLE_CERT /* init extern from mqttexample.h */
+    extern const char* root_ca;
+    extern const char* device_cert;
+    extern const char* device_priv_key;
+#else
+    #undef  WOLFMQTT_EXAMPLE_CERT
+    #define WOLFMQTT_EXAMPLE_CERT static
+#endif
+
 /* MQTT Client state */
 typedef enum _MQTTCtxState {
     WMQ_BEGIN = 0,