diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index fb4bb241a77..24470d61d0d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,13 +10,7 @@ include(GNUInstallDirs)
 
 # The C++ standard whose features are required to build Binaryen.
 # Keep in sync with scripts/test/shared.py cxx_standard
-# The if condition allows embedding in a project with a higher default C++ standard set
-set(REQUIRED_CXX_STANDARD 20)
-if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD ${REQUIRED_CXX_STANDARD})
-elseif(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD LESS ${REQUIRED_CXX_STANDARD})
-  message(SEND_ERROR "Building with C++ standards older than C++${REQUIRED_CXX_STANDARD} is not supported, change CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD to ${REQUIRED_CXX_STANDARD} or later")
-endif()
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)
 
@@ -465,6 +459,7 @@ if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
 else()
   message(STATUS "Building libbinaryen as statically linked library.")
 endif()
+target_compile_features(binaryen PUBLIC cxx_std_20)
 target_link_libraries(binaryen PUBLIC Threads::Threads)
 binaryen_setup_rpath(binaryen)
 if(BUILD_LLVM_DWARF)