diff --git a/abseil-cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/abseil-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 79869ff5..e1179a20 100644
--- a/abseil-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/abseil-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 # (https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL#Extra_Packages_for_Enterprise_Linux_.28EPEL.29)
 # and then issuing `yum install cmake3` on the command line.
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 # Compiler id for Apple Clang is now AppleClang.
 if (POLICY CMP0025)