diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a742b4968..094d9069b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,10 +25,13 @@ if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCC)
     # note: starting with CMake 2.8 we could use CMAKE_C_COMPILER_VERSION
     execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_C_COMPILER} -dumpversion
                     OUTPUT_VARIABLE GCC_VERSION)
-    set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -Wall -Wextra -W -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wwrite-strings -Wshadow")
+    set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -Wall -Wextra -W -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wwrite-strings")
     if (GCC_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 4.5 OR GCC_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 4.5)
         set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -Wlogical-op")
     endif()
+    if (GCC_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 4.8 OR GCC_VERSION VERSION_EQUAL 4.8)
+        set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -Wshadow")
+    endif()
     set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE     "-O2")
     set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG       "-O0 -g3")
     set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_COVERAGE    "-O0 -g3 --coverage")