diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index b9b464aa6..dd681ccd4 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,10 +5,17 @@ if (WITH_UNITTESTS)
     set(EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/external)
     ExternalProject_Add(googletest
         GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/google/googletest
-        GIT_TAG release-1.11.0
+        GIT_TAG release-1.12.0
         CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION} -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON
     )
 
+    # this is a workaround for gtest's bug still not closed
+    # https://github.com/google/googletest/issues/3659
+    if (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "Clang")
+        MY_CHECK_AND_SET_COMPILER_FLAG("-U__cpp_char8_t")
+    endif()
+
+
     include_directories(${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/include)
     # lib64 for RPM-based distros
     link_directories(${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib ${EXTERNAL_INSTALL_LOCATION}/lib64)