diff --git a/mlir/lib/ExecutionEngine/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/lib/ExecutionEngine/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/mlir/lib/ExecutionEngine/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/lib/ExecutionEngine/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@
   EXCLUDE_FROM_LIBMLIR
 
   LINK_LIBS PUBLIC
-  mlir_sparse_tensor_utils
+  MLIRSparseTensorRuntime
   )
 set_property(TARGET mlir_c_runner_utils PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 17)
 target_compile_definitions(mlir_c_runner_utils PRIVATE mlir_c_runner_utils_EXPORTS)
diff --git a/mlir/lib/ExecutionEngine/SparseTensor/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/lib/ExecutionEngine/SparseTensor/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/mlir/lib/ExecutionEngine/SparseTensor/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/lib/ExecutionEngine/SparseTensor/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 # Unlike mlir_float16_utils, mlir_c_runner_utils, etc, we do *not* make
-# this a shared library: because doing so causes issues building on Windows.
-add_mlir_library(mlir_sparse_tensor_utils
+# this a shared library: because doing so causes issues when building
+# on Windows.  In particular, various functions take/return `std::vector`
+# but that class is not designed with dllimport/dllexport pragma,
+# therefore it cannot be safely/correctly used across DLL boundaries.
+# Consequently, we avoid using the "mlir_xxx_utils" naming scheme, since
+# that is reserved/intended for shared libraries only.
+add_mlir_library(MLIRSparseTensorRuntime
   File.cpp
   NNZ.cpp
   Storage.cpp
@@ -10,13 +15,13 @@
   LINK_LIBS PUBLIC
   mlir_float16_utils
   )
-set_property(TARGET mlir_sparse_tensor_utils PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 17)
+set_property(TARGET MLIRSparseTensorRuntime PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 # To make sure we adhere to the style guide:
 # <https://llvm.org/docs/CodingStandards.html#provide-a-virtual-method-anchor-for-classes-in-headers>
 check_cxx_compiler_flag(-Wweak-vtables
   COMPILER_SUPPORTS_WARNING_WEAK_VTABLES)
 if(COMPILER_SUPPORTS_WARNING_WEAK_VTABLES)
-  target_compile_options(mlir_sparse_tensor_utils PUBLIC
+  target_compile_options(MLIRSparseTensorRuntime PUBLIC
     "-Wweak-vtables")
 endif()
diff --git a/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/BUILD.bazel b/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/BUILD.bazel
--- a/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/utils/bazel/llvm-project-overlay/mlir/BUILD.bazel
@@ -2113,12 +2113,12 @@
         ":SCFTransforms",
         ":SparseTensorDialect",
         ":SparseTensorPassIncGen",
+        ":SparseTensorRuntime",
         ":SparseTensorUtils",
         ":Support",
         ":TensorDialect",
         ":Transforms",
         ":VectorDialect",
-        ":mlir_sparse_tensor_utils",
         "//llvm:Support",
     ],
 )
@@ -6699,14 +6699,18 @@
 )
 
 # Unlike mlir_float16_utils, mlir_c_runner_utils, etc, we do *not* make
-# this a shared library: because on the CMake side, doing so causes
-# issues when building on Windows.
+# this a shared library: because on the CMake side, doing so causes issues
+# when building on Windows.  In particular, various functions take/return
+# `std::vector` but that class is not designed with dllimport/dllexport
+# pragma, therefore it cannot be safely/correctly used across DLL boundaries.
+# Consequently, we avoid using the "mlir_xxx_utils" naming scheme,
+# since that is reserved/intended for shared libraries only.
 #
 # We relist Float16bits.h because Enums.h includes it; rather than
 # forcing all direct-dependants state that they also directly-depend
 # on :mlir_float16_utils (to satisfy the layering_check).
 cc_library(
-    name = "mlir_sparse_tensor_utils",
+    name = "SparseTensorRuntime",
     srcs = [
         "lib/ExecutionEngine/SparseTensor/File.cpp",
         "lib/ExecutionEngine/SparseTensor/NNZ.cpp",
@@ -6740,7 +6744,7 @@
         "include/mlir/ExecutionEngine/SparseTensorUtils.h",
     ],
     includes = ["include"],
-    deps = [":mlir_sparse_tensor_utils"],
+    deps = [":SparseTensorRuntime"],
 )
 
 # Indirection to avoid 'libmlir_c_runner_utils.so' filename clash.