diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/openbabel/2.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/openbabel/2.nix
index 0cc752d993fb..b69efd866467 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/openbabel/2.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/openbabel/2.nix
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   buildInputs = [ zlib libxml2 eigen python3 cairo pcre ];
 
+  cmakeFlags = [ "-DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD=14" ];
+
   nativeBuildInputs = [ cmake pkg-config ];
 
   meta = with lib; {