diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 49a996ba4a..51cde96c35 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ message(STATUS "Gurobi support: ${USE_GUROBI}")
 
 ## HiGHS
 # see: https://github.com/ERGO-Code/HiGHS
-CMAKE_DEPENDENT_OPTION(USE_HIGHS "Use the HiGHS solver" OFF "BUILD_CXX" OFF)
+CMAKE_DEPENDENT_OPTION(USE_HIGHS "Use the HiGHS solver" ON "BUILD_CXX" OFF)
 message(STATUS "HiGHS support: ${USE_HIGHS}")
 if(USE_HIGHS)
   CMAKE_DEPENDENT_OPTION(BUILD_HIGHS "Build the HiGHS dependency Library" OFF