diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3f1f9a781a07..8df349ce14fd 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.26)
 # cmake --install . --component _C
 project(vllm_extensions LANGUAGES CXX)
 
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+
+
 # CUDA by default, can be overridden by using -DVLLM_TARGET_DEVICE=... (used by setup.py)
 set(VLLM_TARGET_DEVICE "cuda" CACHE STRING "Target device backend for vLLM")
 message(STATUS "Build type: ${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}")
diff --git a/cmake/utils.cmake b/cmake/utils.cmake
index 9c0ed1d09572..8558976e2c39 100644
--- a/cmake/utils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/utils.cmake
@@ -480,7 +480,6 @@ function (define_gpu_extension_target GPU_MOD_NAME)
       ${GPU_LANGUAGE}_ARCHITECTURES "${GPU_ARCHITECTURES}")
   endif()
 
-  set_property(TARGET ${GPU_MOD_NAME} PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
   target_compile_options(${GPU_MOD_NAME} PRIVATE
     $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:${GPU_LANGUAGE}>:${GPU_COMPILE_FLAGS}>)