diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index f7e9b314bd..c8318c262a 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -120,6 +120,19 @@ if((CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "NVHPC") OR (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "
   set(CMAKE_TUNE_DEFAULT "-Minform=severe")
 endif()
 
+# this hack is required to compile fmt lib with CrayClang version 15.0.2
+# CrayClang is only directly recognized by version 3.28 and later
+if(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.28)
+  get_filename_component(_exe "${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}" NAME)
+  if((CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "Clang") AND (_exe STREQUAL "crayCC"))
+    set(CMAKE_TUNE_DEFAULT "-DFMT_STATIC_THOUSANDS_SEPARATOR")
+  endif()
+else()
+  if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "CrayClang")
+    set(CMAKE_TUNE_DEFAULT "-DFMT_STATIC_THOUSANDS_SEPARATOR")
+  endif()
+endif()
+
 # silence nvcc warnings
 if((PKG_KOKKOS) AND (Kokkos_ENABLE_CUDA) AND NOT (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "Clang"))
   set(CMAKE_TUNE_DEFAULT "${CMAKE_TUNE_DEFAULT} -Xcudafe --diag_suppress=unrecognized_pragma")