diff --git a/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md b/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
index 01052b018..c28939739 100644
--- a/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
+++ b/docs/markdown/Reference-manual.md
@@ -2426,6 +2426,13 @@ an external dependency with the following methods:
    the value of `include_type` to `value`. The `value` argument is optional and
    defaults to `'preserve'`.
 
+ - `as_link_whole()` *Since 0.56.0* Only dependencies created with
+   `declare_dependency()`, returns a copy of the dependency object with all
+   link_with arguments changed to link_whole. This is useful for example for
+   fallback dependency from a subproject built with `default_library=static`.
+   Note that all `link_with` objects must be static libraries otherwise an error
+   will be raised when trying to `link_whole` a shared library.
+
  - `partial_dependency(compile_args : false, link_args : false, links
    : false, includes : false, sources : false)` *(since 0.46.0)*: returns
    a new dependency object with the same name, version, found status,
diff --git a/docs/markdown/snippets/as_link_whole.md b/docs/markdown/snippets/as_link_whole.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..39f12892d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/markdown/snippets/as_link_whole.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+## `dep.as_link_whole()`
+
+Dependencies created with `declare_dependency()` now has new method `as_link_whole()`.
+It returns a copy of the dependency object with all link_with arguments changed
+to link_whole. This is useful for example for fallback dependency from a
+subproject built with `default_library=static`.
+
+```meson
+somelib = static_library('somelib', ...)
+dep = declare_dependency(..., link_with: somelib)
+library('someotherlib', ..., dependencies: dep.as_link_whole())
+```
diff --git a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
index 8d2f7597c..aa513ba33 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py
@@ -295,6 +295,11 @@ class InternalDependency(Dependency):
             return val
         raise DependencyException('Could not get an internal variable and no default provided for {!r}'.format(self))
 
+    def generate_link_whole_dependency(self) -> T.Type['Dependency']:
+        new_dep = copy.deepcopy(self)
+        new_dep.whole_libraries += new_dep.libraries
+        new_dep.libraries = []
+        return new_dep
 
 class HasNativeKwarg:
     def __init__(self, kwargs):
diff --git a/mesonbuild/interpreter.py b/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
index bc162ac8a..3af5b5100 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/interpreter.py
@@ -431,6 +431,7 @@ class DependencyHolder(InterpreterObject, ObjectHolder):
                              'partial_dependency': self.partial_dependency_method,
                              'include_type': self.include_type_method,
                              'as_system': self.as_system_method,
+                             'as_link_whole': self.as_link_whole_method,
                              })
 
     def found(self):
@@ -511,6 +512,15 @@ class DependencyHolder(InterpreterObject, ObjectHolder):
         new_dep = self.held_object.generate_system_dependency(new_is_system)
         return DependencyHolder(new_dep, self.subproject)
 
+    @FeatureNew('dep.as_link_whole', '0.56.0')
+    @permittedKwargs({})
+    @noPosargs
+    def as_link_whole_method(self, args, kwargs):
+        if not isinstance(self.held_object, InternalDependency):
+            raise InterpreterException('as_link_whole method is only supported on declare_dependency() objects')
+        new_dep = self.held_object.generate_link_whole_dependency()
+        return DependencyHolder(new_dep, self.subproject)
+
 class ExternalProgramHolder(InterpreterObject, ObjectHolder):
     def __init__(self, ep, subproject, backend=None):
         InterpreterObject.__init__(self)
diff --git a/run_unittests.py b/run_unittests.py
index 5524c9e05..32b3d34de 100755
--- a/run_unittests.py
+++ b/run_unittests.py
@@ -7294,6 +7294,16 @@ c = ['{0}']
                     '''))
             self.init(d, override_envvars={'PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR': privatedir})
 
+    def test_as_link_whole(self):
+        testdir = os.path.join(self.unit_test_dir, '79 as link whole')
+        self.init(testdir)
+        with open(os.path.join(self.privatedir, 'bar1.pc')) as f:
+            content = f.read()
+            self.assertIn('-lfoo', content)
+        with open(os.path.join(self.privatedir, 'bar2.pc')) as f:
+            content = f.read()
+            self.assertNotIn('-lfoo', content)
+
 class BaseLinuxCrossTests(BasePlatformTests):
     # Don't pass --libdir when cross-compiling. We have tests that
     # check whether meson auto-detects it correctly.
diff --git a/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/bar.c b/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/bar.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..79dea9d0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/bar.c	
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+int bar(void);
+
+int bar(void)
+{
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/foo.c b/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/foo.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ffeee82fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/foo.c	
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+int foo(void);
+
+int foo(void)
+{
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/meson.build b/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/meson.build
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6bc208f1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test cases/unit/79 as link whole/meson.build	
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+project('as-link-whole', 'c')
+
+foo = static_library('foo', 'foo.c', install: true)
+dep = declare_dependency(link_with: foo)
+bar1 = library('bar1', 'bar.c', dependencies: dep)
+bar2 = library('bar2', 'bar.c', dependencies: dep.as_link_whole())
+
+# bar1.pc should have -lfoo but not bar2.pc
+pkg = import('pkgconfig')
+pkg.generate(bar1)
+pkg.generate(bar2)