diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cee9bc72f..ce541b994 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3.0)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5.0)
 
 include(CMakeParseArguments)
 include(CheckCCompilerFlag)
 include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
 
+# Default c++ standard used unless otherwise specified in target_compile_features.
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17 CACHE STRING "the C++ standard to use for this project")
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+
 function(addprefix var prefix)
     foreach( s ${ARGN} )
         list(APPEND tmp "-I${s}")
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3c81251cf..aad66cb78 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ ifdef ABC_USE_LIBSTDCXX
 endif
 
 $(info $(MSG_PREFIX)Using CFLAGS=$(CFLAGS))
-CXXFLAGS += $(CFLAGS) -std=c++11
+CXXFLAGS += $(CFLAGS)
 
 SRC  :=
 GARBAGE := core core.* *.stackdump ./tags $(PROG) arch_flags