diff --git a/src/microsoft_craziness.h b/src/microsoft_craziness.h
index 933607a2a..7fcdebb80 100644
--- a/src/microsoft_craziness.h
+++ b/src/microsoft_craziness.h
@@ -761,17 +761,27 @@ gb_internal void find_visual_studio_paths_from_env_vars(Find_Result *result) {
 gb_internal Find_Result find_visual_studio_and_windows_sdk() {
 	Find_Result r = {};
 	find_windows_kit_paths(&r);
-	find_visual_studio_by_fighting_through_microsoft_craziness(&r);
+
+	// Prefer the toolset exported into the environment (e.g. by vsdevcmd) so the
+	// linker uses the same MSVC toolset that compiled our C++ dependencies. The COM
+	// autodetection grabs the first installed Visual Studio, which may be an older
+	// toolset whose runtime libraries lack symbols that the newer-built libraries
+	// reference. Fall back to autodetection when the environment is bare.
+	find_visual_studio_paths_from_env_vars(&r);
+
+	bool vs_found =
+		r.vs_exe_path.len                   &&
+		r.vs_library_path.len               ;
+
+	if (!vs_found) {
+		find_visual_studio_by_fighting_through_microsoft_craziness(&r);
+	}
 
 	bool sdk_found =
 		r.windows_sdk_bin_path.len          &&
 		r.windows_sdk_um_library_path.len   &&
 		r.windows_sdk_ucrt_library_path.len ;
 
-	bool vs_found = 
-		r.vs_exe_path.len                   &&
-		r.vs_library_path.len               ;
-
 	if (!sdk_found) {
 		find_windows_kit_paths_from_env_vars(&r);
 	}