in short: CMake does need to change (i'll need to wait for updates) to support newer released boost versions i've heard that Boost supports cmake now directly but i don't get the direct cmake support of boost working with my CMakeLists.txt i know that CMake supports 1.75 in the lastest releases directly but 1.76 and 1.77 are still not on the list and i don't want to wait for CMake release to test new features/betas etc. my system: Ubuntu 21.04/x64, CMake 3.19.4/3.21.0, GCC 10.x Boost 1.75 (want to upgrade to 1.76 soon) my boost build: mkdir ~/dev/3rdparty-liux-gcc cd ~/dev/3rdparty-linux-gcc wget https://dl.bintray.com/boostorg/release/1.75.0/source/boost_1_75_0.tar.bz2 tar -xf boost_1_75_0.tar.bz2 ln -s boost_1_75_0 ./boost cd boost_1_75_0 ./bootstrap.sh ./b2 --toolset=gcc cxxflags=-fPIC --build-dir=./_build address-model=64 architecture=x86 link=static threading=multi --with-graph --with-nowide --with-test --width-config --with-system --with-filesystem --stagedir=./_x64 ln -s _x64/lib lib my simple test hierarchy: boost_using_cmake_tests boost_using_cmake_tests\_build boost_using_cmake_tests\boost_using_cmake boost_using_cmake_tests\boost_using_cmake\CMakeLists.txt cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 3.16) set(Boost_NO_BOOST_CMAKE TRUE) set(Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS TRUE) project (using_boost_with_cmake) set( MY_THIRD_PARTY_LIBS "~/dev/3rdparty-linux-gcc" ) set( BOOST_ROOT ${MY_THIRD_PARTY_LIBS}/boost ) set( BOOST_INCLUDEDIR ${BOOST_ROOT}/boost) set( BOOST_LIBRARYDIR ${BOOST_ROOT}/lib) find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS unit_test_framework filesystem system) cmake run: using 3.19.4 cmake without 1.75 support ~/dev/boost_using_cmake/_build$ ../../cmake-3.19.4-linux-x86_64/bin/cmake ../boost_using_cmake/ -- The C compiler identification is GNU 10.3.0 -- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 10.3.0 -- Detecting C compiler ABI info -- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done -- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc - skipped -- Detecting C compile features -- Detecting C compile features - done -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done -- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ - skipped -- Detecting CXX compile features -- Detecting CXX compile features - done CMake Warning at /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1204 (message): New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported targets Call Stack (most recent call first): /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1326 (_Boost_COMPONENT_DEPENDENCIES) /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1935 (_Boost_MISSING_DEPENDENCIES) CMakeLists.txt:14 (find_package) CMake Warning at /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1204 (message): New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported targets Call Stack (most recent call first): /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1326 (_Boost_COMPONENT_DEPENDENCIES) /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1935 (_Boost_MISSING_DEPENDENCIES) CMakeLists.txt:14 (find_package) CMake Warning at /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1204 (message): New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported targets Call Stack (most recent call first): /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1326 (_Boost_COMPONENT_DEPENDENCIES) /home/linux/dev/cmake-3.19.4-Linux-x86_64/share/cmake-3.19/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1935 (_Boost_MISSING_DEPENDENCIES) CMakeLists.txt:14 (find_package) -- Found Boost: /home/linux/dev/3rdparty-linux-gcc/boost (found version "1.75.0") found components: unit_test_framework filesystem system -- Configuring done -- Generating done -- Build files have been written to: /home/linux/dev/boost_using_cmake_tests/_build it works but cmake 3.19.4 is missing direct support for 1.75 so its some way "unsupported", cmake does not detect the correct lib names automaticly, only some styles are working etc. i've talked about the problem on the cmake forum and the answer was https://discourse.cmake.org/t/fail-to-use-self-build-boost-1-75-under-ubuntu... Brad King: "...However, Boost upstream now provides a proper CMake package file BoostConfig.cmake which should work for using Boost in any layout..." 1.75 is now directly supported by cmake - but now i want to use 1.76 and the problem re-occures i've tried serveral things to force cmake to use the boost own package findings stuff without any success i hope its possible to use 1.75 and 1.76 in the future without always wait for cmake to support it directly any hints what changes are needed with my CMakeLists.txt to support boost own cmake package finding (and get rid of these problems)?