diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 30a702752b32a068346694e8401bc10198c9268a..ec6d2aeb16d31fc3282bb391dbbb034d24f3380e 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -413,8 +413,9 @@ install(FILES ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/caosdbConfigVersion.cmake
 #######################################################
 option(AUTOFORMATTING "call clang-format at configure time" ON)
 if(AUTOFORMATTING AND NOT SKIP_LINTING)
+    find_program(clang_format NAMES clang-format-11 clang-format)
     file(GLOB format_test_sources test/*.cpp test/*.h test/*.h.in)
-    execute_process(COMMAND clang-format -i --verbose ${libcaosdb_INCL}
+    execute_process(COMMAND $(clang-format) -i --verbose ${libcaosdb_INCL}
         ${libcaosdb_SRC} ${libcaosdb_TEST_SRC}
         ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/cxxcaosdbcli.cpp
         ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/ccaosdbcli.c