diff --git a/rclcpp/CMakeLists.txt b/rclcpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 3abd999f3d..8d186ad27a 100644
--- a/rclcpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rclcpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ find_package(tracetools REQUIRED)
 # Default to C++17
 if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
   set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 endif()
 if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
   # About -Wno-sign-conversion: With Clang, -Wconversion implies -Wsign-conversion. There are a number of
diff --git a/rclcpp_action/CMakeLists.txt b/rclcpp_action/CMakeLists.txt
index 353e179244..785ed0e5e1 100644
--- a/rclcpp_action/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rclcpp_action/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ find_package(rcl_action REQUIRED)
 find_package(rcpputils REQUIRED)
 find_package(rosidl_runtime_c REQUIRED)
 
-# Default to C++14
+# Default to C++17
 if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 endif()
 if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
   add_compile_options(
diff --git a/rclcpp_components/CMakeLists.txt b/rclcpp_components/CMakeLists.txt
index 0b9cda7803..121ef434c2 100644
--- a/rclcpp_components/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rclcpp_components/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
 
 project(rclcpp_components)
 
-# Default to C++14
+# Default to C++17
 if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 endif()
 if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
   add_compile_options(
diff --git a/rclcpp_lifecycle/CMakeLists.txt b/rclcpp_lifecycle/CMakeLists.txt
index b3461a7333..f46f993b21 100644
--- a/rclcpp_lifecycle/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rclcpp_lifecycle/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
 
 project(rclcpp_lifecycle)
 
-# Default to C++14
+# Default to C++17
 if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 endif()
 if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
   add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -Wnon-virtual-dtor -Woverloaded-virtual)