diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f797f03aff8442f9b954aa514121e9aeecd7c4ea..b4f889d67b5402ae3a10504d93713064acb252fa 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ ELSE()
 ENDIF()
 
 
-find_package(netCDF REQUIRED)
+find_package(netCDF 4.0 REQUIRED)
 set(netcdf_flag HAVE_LIBNETCDF)
 if (${netCDF_FOUND})
   add_compile_definitions(${netcdf_flag}=${netCDF_FOUND})