diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d01470a2..a28d2da1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.12)
 
 project(rcutils)
 
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ include(CheckLibraryExists)
 find_package(ament_cmake_python REQUIRED)
 find_package(ament_cmake_ros REQUIRED)
 
+find_package(Python3 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Interpreter)
+
 ament_python_install_package(${PROJECT_NAME})
 
 if(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
@@ -102,7 +104,7 @@ em.invoke( \
 string(REPLACE ";" "$<SEMICOLON>" python_code "${python_code}")
 add_custom_command(OUTPUT include/rcutils/logging_macros.h
   COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory "include/rcutils"
-  COMMAND ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ARGS -c "${python_code}"
+  COMMAND Python3::Interpreter ARGS -c "${python_code}"
   DEPENDS
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/logging_macros.h.em.watch"
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/logging.py.watch"