diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7a559e1cba..430994a252 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,26 +1,7 @@
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.1.0)
-
-# for link time optimization, remove if cmake version is >= 3.9
-if(POLICY CMP0069) # LTO
-    cmake_policy(SET CMP0069 NEW)
-endif()
-
-# for position-independent executable, remove if cmake version is >= 3.14
-if(POLICY CMP0083)
-    cmake_policy(SET CMP0083 NEW)
-endif()
-
-# to link with freetype library
-if(POLICY CMP0079)
-    cmake_policy(SET CMP0079 NEW)
-endif()
-
-# don't add /W3 flag by default for MSVC
-if(POLICY CMP0092)
-    cmake_policy(SET CMP0092 NEW)
-endif()
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16.0)
 
 #  set the timestamps of extracted contents to the time of extraction
+# remove if cmake version is >= 3.24
 if(POLICY CMP0135)
     cmake_policy(SET CMP0135 NEW)
 endif()
@@ -585,20 +566,16 @@ if (NOT WIN32 AND NOT APPLE)
 endif()
 
 if(OPENMW_LTO_BUILD)
-    if(NOT CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.9)
-        include(CheckIPOSupported)
-        check_ipo_supported(RESULT HAVE_IPO OUTPUT HAVE_IPO_OUTPUT)
-        if(HAVE_IPO)
-            message(STATUS "LTO enabled for Release configuration.")
-            set(CMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_RELEASE TRUE)
-        else()
-            message(WARNING "Requested option OPENMW_LTO_BUILD not supported by this compiler: ${HAVE_IPO_OUTPUT}")
-            if(MSVC)
-                message(STATUS "Note: Flags used to be set manually for this setting with MSVC. We now rely on CMake for this. Upgrade CMake to at least 3.13 to re-enable this setting.")
-            endif()
-        endif()
+    include(CheckIPOSupported)
+    check_ipo_supported(RESULT HAVE_IPO OUTPUT HAVE_IPO_OUTPUT)
+    if(HAVE_IPO)
+        message(STATUS "LTO enabled for Release configuration.")
+        set(CMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_RELEASE TRUE)
     else()
-        message(WARNING "Requested option OPENMW_LTO_BUILD not supported by this cmake version: ${CMAKE_VERSION}. Upgrade CMake to at least 3.9 to enable support for certain compilers. Newer CMake versions support more compilers.")
+        message(WARNING "Requested option OPENMW_LTO_BUILD not supported by this compiler: ${HAVE_IPO_OUTPUT}")
+        if(MSVC)
+            message(STATUS "Note: Flags used to be set manually for this setting with MSVC. We now rely on CMake for this. Upgrade CMake to at least 3.13 to re-enable this setting.")
+        endif()
     endif()
 endif()
 
diff --git a/apps/benchmarks/detournavigator/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/benchmarks/detournavigator/CMakeLists.txt
index 198cf2bd3c..2b3a6abe51 100644
--- a/apps/benchmarks/detournavigator/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/benchmarks/detournavigator/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ if (UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
     target_link_libraries(openmw_detournavigator_navmeshtilescache_benchmark ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw_detournavigator_navmeshtilescache_benchmark PRIVATE <algorithm>)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/apps/benchmarks/esm/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/benchmarks/esm/CMakeLists.txt
index e7ecfff41b..74870ceda1 100644
--- a/apps/benchmarks/esm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/benchmarks/esm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ if (UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
     target_link_libraries(openmw_esm_refid_benchmark ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw_esm_refid_benchmark PRIVATE <algorithm>)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/apps/benchmarks/settings/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/benchmarks/settings/CMakeLists.txt
index 8e3bd7375d..ccdd51eeac 100644
--- a/apps/benchmarks/settings/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/benchmarks/settings/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ if (UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
     target_link_libraries(openmw_settings_access_benchmark ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw_settings_access_benchmark PRIVATE <algorithm>)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/apps/bsatool/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/bsatool/CMakeLists.txt
index 0ee6d8472a..a567499ac6 100644
--- a/apps/bsatool/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/bsatool/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ if (BUILD_WITH_CODE_COVERAGE)
     target_link_libraries(bsatool gcov)
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(bsatool PRIVATE
         <filesystem>
         <fstream>
diff --git a/apps/bulletobjecttool/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/bulletobjecttool/CMakeLists.txt
index 924f66301c..6e6e1cdbb3 100644
--- a/apps/bulletobjecttool/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/bulletobjecttool/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ if (WIN32)
     install(TARGETS openmw-bulletobjecttool RUNTIME DESTINATION ".")
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw-bulletobjecttool PRIVATE
         <string>
         <vector>
diff --git a/apps/esmtool/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/esmtool/CMakeLists.txt
index ad95b2b8e5..6f7fa1a993 100644
--- a/apps/esmtool/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/esmtool/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ if (BUILD_WITH_CODE_COVERAGE)
     target_link_libraries(esmtool gcov)
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(esmtool PRIVATE
         <fstream>
         <string>
diff --git a/apps/essimporter/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/essimporter/CMakeLists.txt
index 3928d88e8f..c6c98791e3 100644
--- a/apps/essimporter/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/essimporter/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ if (WIN32)
     INSTALL(TARGETS openmw-essimporter RUNTIME DESTINATION ".")
 endif(WIN32)
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw-essimporter PRIVATE
         <algorithm>
         <filesystem>
diff --git a/apps/launcher/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/launcher/CMakeLists.txt
index fe27dfc498..87cee06e5d 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/launcher/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ if(USE_QT)
     set_property(TARGET openmw-launcher PROPERTY AUTOMOC ON)
 endif(USE_QT)
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw-launcher PRIVATE
         <boost/program_options/options_description.hpp>
 
diff --git a/apps/mwiniimporter/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/mwiniimporter/CMakeLists.txt
index c2329941c0..704393cd0d 100644
--- a/apps/mwiniimporter/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/mwiniimporter/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ if (BUILD_WITH_CODE_COVERAGE)
     target_link_libraries(openmw-iniimporter gcov)
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw-iniimporter PRIVATE
         <string>
         <vector>
diff --git a/apps/navmeshtool/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/navmeshtool/CMakeLists.txt
index 09d7af3b23..9abd8dc283 100644
--- a/apps/navmeshtool/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/navmeshtool/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ if (WIN32)
     install(TARGETS openmw-navmeshtool RUNTIME DESTINATION ".")
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw-navmeshtool PRIVATE
         <algorithm>
         <memory>
diff --git a/apps/niftest/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/niftest/CMakeLists.txt
index 5ca21c10c7..f112e087e3 100644
--- a/apps/niftest/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/niftest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@ if (BUILD_WITH_CODE_COVERAGE)
     target_link_libraries(niftest gcov)
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(niftest PRIVATE <filesystem>)
 endif()
diff --git a/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
index 83f8cea168..20bd62d145 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ if (BUILD_WITH_CODE_COVERAGE)
     target_link_libraries(openmw-cs-lib gcov)
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw-cs-lib PRIVATE
         <boost/program_options/options_description.hpp>
 
diff --git a/apps/opencs_tests/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/opencs_tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 5d76dc2032..2b7309f8b9 100644
--- a/apps/opencs_tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/opencs_tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ if (BUILD_WITH_CODE_COVERAGE)
     target_link_libraries(openmw-cs-tests PRIVATE gcov)
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw-cs-tests PRIVATE
         <gtest/gtest.h>
     )
diff --git a/apps/openmw/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/openmw/CMakeLists.txt
index 967ed11aad..44561446df 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/openmw/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ target_link_libraries(openmw
     components
 )
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw PRIVATE
         <boost/program_options/options_description.hpp>
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/openmw_test_suite/CMakeLists.txt
index 9f4df61368..eb9c0be15d 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ target_compile_definitions(openmw_test_suite
     PRIVATE OPENMW_DATA_DIR=u8"${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/data"
             OPENMW_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR=u8"${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}")
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(openmw_test_suite PRIVATE
         <boost/program_options/options_description.hpp>
 
diff --git a/cmake/OpenMWMacros.cmake b/cmake/OpenMWMacros.cmake
index 991125526d..0561fcefd7 100644
--- a/cmake/OpenMWMacros.cmake
+++ b/cmake/OpenMWMacros.cmake
@@ -132,21 +132,16 @@ macro (openmw_add_executable target)
     add_executable(${target} ${OMW_ADD_EXE_WIN32_VALUE} ${OMW_ADD_EXE_MACOSX_BUNDLE_VALUE} ${OMW_ADD_EXE_EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL_VALUE} ${OMW_ADD_EXE_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS})
 
     if (MSVC)
-        if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 3.8 OR CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 3.8)
-            set_target_properties(${target} PROPERTIES VS_DEBUGGER_WORKING_DIRECTORY "$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:${target}>")
-        endif (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 3.8 OR CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 3.8)
+        set_target_properties(${target} PROPERTIES VS_DEBUGGER_WORKING_DIRECTORY "$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:${target}>")
     endif (MSVC)
 endmacro (openmw_add_executable)
 
 macro (get_generator_is_multi_config VALUE)
+    # TODO: make git version getter less dumb so everywhere that calls this macro can just call the function this calls instead
     if (DEFINED generator_is_multi_config_var)
         set(${VALUE} ${generator_is_multi_config_var})
     else (DEFINED generator_is_multi_config_var)
-        if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 3.9 OR CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 3.9)
-            get_cmake_property(${VALUE} GENERATOR_IS_MULTI_CONFIG)
-        else (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 3.9 OR CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 3.9)
-            list(LENGTH CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES ${VALUE})
-        endif (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 3.9 OR CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 3.9)
+        get_cmake_property(${VALUE} GENERATOR_IS_MULTI_CONFIG)
     endif (DEFINED generator_is_multi_config_var)
 endmacro (get_generator_is_multi_config)
 
diff --git a/components/CMakeLists.txt b/components/CMakeLists.txt
index f64f41b198..cb3b74dc8b 100644
--- a/components/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/components/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -614,7 +614,7 @@ if(USE_QT)
     set_property(TARGET components_qt PROPERTY AUTOMOC ON)
 endif(USE_QT)
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(components PUBLIC
         <sol/sol.hpp>
 
diff --git a/extern/Base64/CMakeLists.txt b/extern/Base64/CMakeLists.txt
index 4430d7648e..94992a22b5 100644
--- a/extern/Base64/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/extern/Base64/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 add_library(Base64 INTERFACE)
 target_include_directories(Base64 INTERFACE .)
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(Base64 INTERFACE <string>)
 endif()
diff --git a/extern/CMakeLists.txt b/extern/CMakeLists.txt
index 33908c8caf..f3da3c4b25 100644
--- a/extern/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/extern/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ macro(FetchContent_MakeAvailableExcludeFromAll)
 endmacro()
 
 if(NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_BULLET)
-    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11) # for FetchContent
 
     set(BUILD_BULLET3 OFF CACHE BOOL "")
     set(BUILD_EXTRAS OFF CACHE BOOL "")
@@ -63,7 +62,6 @@ if(NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_BULLET)
 endif()
 
 if(NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_MYGUI)
-    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11) # for FetchContent
 
     set(MYGUI_RENDERSYSTEM 4 CACHE STRING "")
     set(MYGUI_DISABLE_PLUGINS TRUE CACHE BOOL "")
@@ -95,7 +93,6 @@ if(NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_MYGUI)
 endif()
 
 if(NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_OSG)
-    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11) # for FetchContent
 
     set(BUILD_OSG_APPLICATIONS OFF CACHE BOOL "")
     set(BUILD_OSG_DEPRECATED_SERIALIZERS OFF CACHE BOOL "")
@@ -213,7 +210,6 @@ endif()
 add_subdirectory(smhasher)
 
 if (BUILD_BENCHMARKS AND NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_BENCHMARK)
-    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11)
 
     set(BENCHMARK_ENABLE_TESTING OFF)
     set(BENCHMARK_ENABLE_INSTALL OFF)
@@ -243,7 +239,7 @@ if (NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_YAML_CPP)
     )
     FetchContent_MakeAvailableExcludeFromAll(yaml-cpp)
 
-    if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+    if (MSVC)
         target_precompile_headers(yaml-cpp PRIVATE <algorithm>)
     endif()
 endif()
@@ -304,7 +300,6 @@ if (NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_ICU)
 endif()
 
 if ((BUILD_UNITTESTS OR BUILD_OPENCS_TESTS) AND NOT OPENMW_USE_SYSTEM_GOOGLETEST)
-    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11)
 
     include(FetchContent)
     FetchContent_Declare(googletest
diff --git a/extern/oics/CMakeLists.txt b/extern/oics/CMakeLists.txt
index 585df5dd41..1b9fea9217 100644
--- a/extern/oics/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/extern/oics/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,6 @@ else()
     target_link_libraries(oics local_tinyxml)
 endif()
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(oics PUBLIC <algorithm> <string>)
 endif()
diff --git a/extern/osg-ffmpeg-videoplayer/CMakeLists.txt b/extern/osg-ffmpeg-videoplayer/CMakeLists.txt
index 1bbe672d78..7e2712f19b 100644
--- a/extern/osg-ffmpeg-videoplayer/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/extern/osg-ffmpeg-videoplayer/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ target_link_libraries(${OSG_FFMPEG_VIDEOPLAYER_LIBRARY} ${OSG_LIBRARIES})
 
 link_directories(${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
 
-if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 3.16 AND MSVC)
+if (MSVC)
     target_precompile_headers(${OSG_FFMPEG_VIDEOPLAYER_LIBRARY} PUBLIC
         <memory>
         <string>