diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c692f40bea167396d6cd914cba3b0815f14748f3..22cb6410afe38bc242fc4ffdbae911f528a72823 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ message("Binary Dir: ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}")
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # CMake Configuration
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Used in cmake 3.1+
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/CMakeScripts/Modules")
 
 # avoid having empty buildtype
diff --git a/CMakeScripts/DefineDependsandFlags.cmake b/CMakeScripts/DefineDependsandFlags.cmake
index 897aafb5794b6a7b84515e07d7f0067ad59fa396..53dd7fe9472ea8c705a9a36ff2e409a8131cd862 100644
--- a/CMakeScripts/DefineDependsandFlags.cmake
+++ b/CMakeScripts/DefineDependsandFlags.cmake
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ list(APPEND INKSCAPE_INCS ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}
 # Add C++11 standard compliance
 # TODO: Add a proper check for compiler compliance here
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# this can be removed when cmake minimum is 3.1 
+# as replaced with CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD in main CMakeLists.txt
 list(APPEND INKSCAPE_CXX_FLAGS "-std=c++11")