diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8dafc77d..0f987a39 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 if (EXTERNAL_HIGHFIVE)
   find_package(HighFive REQUIRED)
 endif()
+
+set(PYBIND11_NEWPYTHON ON)
+
 if (EXTERNAL_PYBIND11)
   find_package(pybind11 REQUIRED CONFIG)
 endif()
diff --git a/binds/python/CMakeLists.txt b/binds/python/CMakeLists.txt
index 156c3ea5..ceca20f9 100644
--- a/binds/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/binds/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-
-set(PYBIND11_NEWPYTHON ON)
-
 if (NOT EXTERNAL_PYBIND11)
     add_subdirectory(pybind11 EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
 endif()