diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 2ba939c824..efdbfa2840 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
 if(POLICY CMP0074)
   cmake_policy(SET CMP0074 NEW)
 endif()
+# set policy to silence warnings about ignoring  ${CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES} but use it
+if(POLICY CMP0075)
+  cmake_policy(SET CMP0075 NEW)
+endif()
 # set policy to silence warnings about missing executable permissions in
 # pythonx.y-config when cross-compiling. review occasionally if it may be set to NEW
 if(POLICY CMP0109)
@@ -385,9 +389,9 @@ pkg_depends(EXTRA-MOLECULE MOLECULE)
 
 # detect if we may enable OpenMP support by default
 set(BUILD_OMP_DEFAULT OFF)
-find_package(OpenMP QUIET)
-if(OpenMP_FOUND)
-  check_include_file_cxx(omp.h HAVE_OMP_H_INCLUDE)
+find_package(OpenMP COMPONENTS CXX QUIET)
+if(OpenMP_CXX_FOUND)
+  check_omp_h_include()
   if(HAVE_OMP_H_INCLUDE)
     set(BUILD_OMP_DEFAULT ON)
   endif()
@@ -396,8 +400,8 @@ endif()
 option(BUILD_OMP "Build with OpenMP support" ${BUILD_OMP_DEFAULT})
 
 if(BUILD_OMP)
-  find_package(OpenMP REQUIRED)
-  check_include_file_cxx(omp.h HAVE_OMP_H_INCLUDE)
+  find_package(OpenMP COMPONENTS CXX REQUIRED)
+  check_omp_h_include()
   if(NOT HAVE_OMP_H_INCLUDE)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Cannot find the 'omp.h' header file required for full OpenMP support")
   endif()
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
index 9b75209e16..561f2168e2 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
@@ -24,6 +24,21 @@ function(validate_option name values)
     endif()
 endfunction(validate_option)
 
+# helper function to check for usable omp.h header
+function(check_omp_h_include)
+  find_package(OpenMP COMPONENTS CXX QUIET)
+  if(OpenMP_CXX_FOUND)
+    set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS ${OpenMP_CXX_FLAGS})
+    set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES ${OpenMP_CXX_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+    set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_LINK_OPTIONS ${OpenMP_CXX_FLAGS})
+    set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES ${OpenMP_CXX_LIBRARIES})
+    check_include_file_cxx(omp.h _have_omp_h)
+  else()
+    set(_have_omp_h FALSE)
+  endif()
+  set(HAVE_OMP_H_INCLUDE ${_have_omp_h} PARENT_SCOPE)
+endfunction()
+
 # helper function for getting the most recently modified file or folder from a glob pattern
 function(get_newest_file path variable)
   file(GLOB _dirs ${path})