diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a530b51c5e01e2460307436fa2bcae7a74d25f34..c03bfb903112c594fbd4abe1db1905cf05db5402 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ target_compile_features(
         evalhyd-cli
         PUBLIC
                 cxx_std_17
+        PRIVATE
+                cxx_std_17
 )
 
 # add CLI application