diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5e13a7e0f..94d138c3b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,7 +38,12 @@ endif()
 
 # Use most-recent available language dialects with GNU and Clang
 if(NOT DEFINED CMAKE_C_STANDARD AND NOT CMake_NO_C_STANDARD)
-  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 11)
+  include(${CMake_SOURCE_DIR}/Source/Checks/cm_c11_thread_local.cmake)
+  if(NOT CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_BROKEN)
+    set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 11)
+  else()
+    set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 99)
+  endif()
 endif()
 if(NOT DEFINED CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD AND NOT CMake_NO_CXX_STANDARD)
   include(${CMake_SOURCE_DIR}/Source/Checks/cm_cxx14_cstdio.cmake)
diff --git a/Source/Checks/cm_c11_thread_local.c b/Source/Checks/cm_c11_thread_local.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ab780f284
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Source/Checks/cm_c11_thread_local.c
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+_Thread_local int i = 42;
+int main(void) { return 0; }
diff --git a/Source/Checks/cm_c11_thread_local.cmake b/Source/Checks/cm_c11_thread_local.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b8d10b2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Source/Checks/cm_c11_thread_local.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+set(CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_BROKEN 0)
+if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "GNU" AND CMAKE_C11_STANDARD_COMPILE_OPTION)
+  if(NOT DEFINED CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_WORKS)
+    message(STATUS "Checking if compiler supports C11 _Thread_local")
+    try_compile(CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_WORKS
+      ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}
+      ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/cm_c11_thread_local.c
+      CMAKE_FLAGS -DCMAKE_C_STANDARD=11
+      OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT
+      )
+    if(CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_WORKS AND "${OUTPUT}" MATCHES "error: expected '=', ',', ';', 'asm' or '__attribute__' before 'int'")
+      set_property(CACHE CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_WORKS PROPERTY VALUE 0)
+    endif()
+    if(CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_WORKS)
+      message(STATUS "Checking if compiler supports C11 _Thread_local - yes")
+      file(APPEND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeOutput.log
+        "Determining if compiler supports C11 _Thread_local passed with the following output:\n"
+        "${OUTPUT}\n"
+        "\n"
+        )
+    else()
+      message(STATUS "Checking if compiler supports C11 _Thread_local - no")
+      file(APPEND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeError.log
+        "Determining if compiler supports C11 _Thread_local failed with the following output:\n"
+        "${OUTPUT}\n"
+        "\n"
+        )
+    endif()
+  endif()
+  if(NOT CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_WORKS)
+    set(CMake_C11_THREAD_LOCAL_BROKEN 1)
+  endif()
+endif()