diff --git a/cmake/SetupStdFilesystem.cmake b/cmake/SetupStdFilesystem.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0ccbe950
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/SetupStdFilesystem.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+
+# h5pp requires the filesystem header (and possibly stdc++fs library)
+find_package(Filesystem COMPONENTS Final Experimental)
+if (TARGET std::filesystem)
+    target_link_libraries(deps INTERFACE std::filesystem)
+    list(APPEND H5PP_TARGETS std::filesystem)
+elseif(H5PP_PACKAGE_MANAGER MATCHES "cmake|fetch|conan")
+    message(STATUS "Your compiler lacks std::filesystem. A drop-in replacement 'ghc::filesystem' will be downloaded")
+    message(STATUS "Read more about ghc::filesystem here: /~https://github.com/gulrak/filesystem")
+    include(cmake/Get_ghcFilesystem.cmake)
+    if(TARGET ghcFilesystem::ghc_filesystem)
+        target_link_libraries(deps INTERFACE ghcFilesystem::ghc_filesystem)
+        list(APPEND H5PP_TARGETS ghcFilesystem::ghc_filesystem)
+    else()
+        message(WARNING "Your compiler lacks std::filesystem and installing the drop-in replacement 'ghc::filesystem' failed.")
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "<filesystem> header and/or library not found")
+    endif()
+else()
+    message(STATUS "Your compiler lacks std::filesystem. Set H5PP_PACKAGE_MANAGER to 'cmake', 'fetch' or 'conan' to get the ghc::filesystem replacement")
+    message(STATUS "Read more about ghc::filesystem here: /~https://github.com/gulrak/filesystem")
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "<filesystem> header and/or library not found")
+endif()
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