diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 92cb794..52098fb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@
 option(CN_CBOR_ALIGN_READS "Use memcpy in ntoh*p()" OFF)
 option(CN_CBOR_RUN_CLANG_TIDY "Use Clang-Tidy for static analysis" OFF)
 
+if(NOT CMAKE_C_STANDARD)
+  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 11)
+endif()
+
 set(dist_dir ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/dist)
 set(prefix ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX})
 set(exec_prefix ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin)