diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f126d659fee2..aea89891ca27 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ endif()
 
 if(__INTEGRATE_OPENCL)
   cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11)
+elseif(USE_SWIG)
+  cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.8)
 elseif(USE_GPU OR APPLE)
   cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.2)
 elseif(USE_CUDA OR USE_CUDA_EXP)
@@ -457,7 +459,7 @@ if(USE_SWIG)
   set_property(SOURCE swig/lightgbmlib.i PROPERTY CPLUSPLUS ON)
   list(APPEND swig_options -package com.microsoft.ml.lightgbm)
   set_property(SOURCE swig/lightgbmlib.i PROPERTY SWIG_FLAGS "${swig_options}")
-  swig_add_module(_lightgbm_swig java swig/lightgbmlib.i)
+  swig_add_library(_lightgbm_swig LANGUAGE java SOURCES swig/lightgbmlib.i)
   swig_link_libraries(_lightgbm_swig _lightgbm)
   # needed to ensure Linux build does not have lib prefix specified twice, e.g. liblib_lightgbm_swig
   set_target_properties(_lightgbm_swig PROPERTIES PREFIX "")