diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 816fa80d9..16281c215 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -108,6 +108,11 @@ IF(APPLE)
     find_library(CORESERVICES_LIBRARY CoreServices)
     find_library(COCOA_LIBRARY Cocoa)
     list(APPEND PLATFORM_LIBS ${COCOA_LIBRARY} ${CORESERVICES_LIBRARY})
+
+    # this should be handled by setting CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET
+    # but it's not working reliably, so forcing it for now
+    SET(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -mmacosx-version-min=10.7")
+    SET(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -mmacosx-version-min=10.7")
 elseif(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Linux" OR
 	${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "FreeBSD")
     find_package(Threads REQUIRED)