diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 2407d03a80..3d3d8469b4 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -625,6 +625,8 @@ install(
 ###############################################################################
 if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
   if(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.12)
+    # adjust so we find Python 3 versions before Python 2 on old systems with old CMake
+    set(Python_ADDITIONAL_VERSIONS 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.5)
     find_package(PythonInterp) # Deprecated since version 3.12
     if(PYTHONINTERP_FOUND)
         set(Python_EXECUTABLE ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE})
@@ -780,3 +782,6 @@ if(PKG_KSPACE)
     endif()
   endif()
 endif()
+if(BUILD_DOC)
+  message(STATUS "<<< Building HTML Manual >>>")
+endif()