diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 75a0b522e7..bd130ec369 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -332,6 +332,9 @@ macro (CMAKE_BUILD_UTILITIES)
   set(KWSYS_USE_ConsoleBuf 1)
   set(KWSYS_HEADER_ROOT ${CMake_BINARY_DIR}/Source)
   set(KWSYS_INSTALL_DOC_DIR "${CMAKE_DOC_DIR}")
+  if(CMake_NO_CXX_STANDARD)
+    set(KWSYS_CXX_STANDARD "")
+  endif()
   add_subdirectory(Source/kwsys)
   set(kwsys_folder "Utilities/KWSys")
   CMAKE_SET_TARGET_FOLDER(${KWSYS_NAMESPACE} "${kwsys_folder}")