diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cb3f28504..6d14b0241 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0.
 
+# As of October 2024, we picked 3.9 as our version because internally we still support RHEL5 and AL2012, and CMake 3.9
+# was the latest version available on those platforms.
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.9)
 option(ALLOW_CROSS_COMPILED_TESTS "Allow tests to be compiled via cross compile, for use with qemu" OFF)
 
diff --git a/cmake/AwsCFlags.cmake b/cmake/AwsCFlags.cmake
index 4b73db013..18ebb712c 100644
--- a/cmake/AwsCFlags.cmake
+++ b/cmake/AwsCFlags.cmake
@@ -230,17 +230,13 @@ function(aws_set_common_properties target)
         set(_ENABLE_LTO_EXPR $<NOT:$<CONFIG:Debug>>)
 
         # try to check whether compiler supports LTO/IPO
-        if (POLICY CMP0069)
-            include(CheckIPOSupported OPTIONAL RESULT_VARIABLE ipo_check_exists)
-            if (ipo_check_exists)
-                check_ipo_supported(RESULT ipo_supported)
-                if (ipo_supported)
-                    message(STATUS "Enabling IPO/LTO for Release builds")
-                else()
-                    message(STATUS "AWS_ENABLE_LTO is enabled, but cmake/compiler does not support it, disabling")
-                    set(_ENABLE_LTO_EXPR OFF)
-                endif()
-            endif()
+        include(CheckIPOSupported) 
+        check_ipo_supported(RESULT ipo_supported)
+        if (ipo_supported)
+            message(STATUS "Enabling IPO/LTO for Release builds")
+        else()
+            message(STATUS "AWS_ENABLE_LTO is enabled, but cmake/compiler does not support it, disabling")
+            set(_ENABLE_LTO_EXPR OFF)
         endif()
     else()
         set(_ENABLE_LTO_EXPR OFF)