diff --git a/scripts/cmake/ExternalProjectCatalyst.cmake b/scripts/cmake/ExternalProjectCatalyst.cmake
index 7f37f27cc9cad7ce2f508901e348c20846077296..aca692562d7609a228db37a35b7e8db387fa79d1 100644
--- a/scripts/cmake/ExternalProjectCatalyst.cmake
+++ b/scripts/cmake/ExternalProjectCatalyst.cmake
@@ -96,6 +96,9 @@ ELSE()
 ENDIF()
 
 MESSAGE(STATUS "Building ParaView as an external project in the build directory")
+IF(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.0.0)
+	MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "CMake 3.0.0 or higher is required for building VTK / ParaView!")
+ENDIF()
 ExternalProject_Add(Catalyst
 	PREFIX ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/External/catalyst
 	GIT_REPOSITORY ${CATALYST_GIT_URL}