diff --git a/mlir/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
index c6d44908a1111..350a8404783bb 100644
--- a/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ endif()
 
 # Must go below project(..)
 include(GNUInstallDirs)
-set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17 CACHE STRING "C++ standard to conform to")
 
 if(MLIR_STANDALONE_BUILD)
   find_package(LLVM CONFIG REQUIRED)