diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 63971d0..c09be61 100755
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
 project(BLT VERSION 0.8.1)
 
-set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 option(ENABLE_ADDRSAN "Enable the address sanitizer" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_UBSAN "Enable the ub sanitizer" OFF)
diff --git a/src/blt/parse/argparse.cpp b/src/blt/parse/argparse.cpp
index 54d6275..6cbb4c2 100755
--- a/src/blt/parse/argparse.cpp
+++ b/src/blt/parse/argparse.cpp
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ namespace blt
     void arg_vector_t::validateFlags()
     {
         for (const auto& flag : flags)
-            if (!flag.starts_with('-'))
+            if (!blt::string::starts_with(flag, '-'))
                 throw invalid_argument_exception("Flag '" + flag + "' must start with - or --");
     }
     
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ namespace blt
         std::string flag = flags[0];
         // search for first '--' flag
         for (const auto& f : flags)
-            if (f.starts_with("--"))
+            if (blt::string::starts_with(f, "--"))
             {
                 flag = f;
                 break;
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ namespace blt
     
     std::string to_string(const arg_data_t& v)
     {
-        if (holds_alternative<arg_data_internal_t>(v))
+        if (std::holds_alternative<arg_data_internal_t>(v))
             return to_string(std::get<arg_data_internal_t>(v));
         else if (std::holds_alternative<arg_data_vec_t>(v))
         {
@@ -145,9 +145,9 @@ namespace blt
                 properties->a_dest = properties->a_flags.name;
         }
         
-        if (properties->a_dest.starts_with("--"))
+        if (blt::string::starts_with(properties->a_dest, "--"))
             properties->a_dest = properties->a_dest.substr(2);
-        else if (properties->a_dest.starts_with('-'))
+        else if (blt::string::starts_with(properties->a_dest, '-'))
             properties->a_dest = properties->a_dest.substr(1);
         
         // associate flags with their properties
@@ -266,12 +266,12 @@ namespace blt
         tokenizer.advance();
         
         // token is a flag, figure out how to handle it
-        if (flag.starts_with("--"))
+        if (blt::string::starts_with(flag, "--"))
             processFlag(tokenizer, flag);
         else
         {
             // handle special args like -vvv
-            if (!flag.starts_with('-'))
+            if (!blt::string::starts_with(flag, '-'))
                 std::cerr << "Flag processed but does not start with '-' (this is a serious error!)\n";
             // make sure the flag only contains the same character
             auto type = flag[1];
diff --git a/src/blt/profiling/profiler_v2.cpp b/src/blt/profiling/profiler_v2.cpp
index 45f7449..8f754e5 100644
--- a/src/blt/profiling/profiler_v2.cpp
+++ b/src/blt/profiling/profiler_v2.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <blt/std/format.h>
 #include <functional>
 #include <blt/std/hashmap.h>
+#include <blt/compatibility.h>
 
 namespace blt
 {
@@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ namespace blt
     void _internal::startInterval(const std::string& profile_name, const std::string& interval_name)
     {
         auto& profile = profiles[profile_name];
-        if (!profile.contains(interval_name))
+        if (profile.find(interval_name) == profile.end())
         {
             auto interval = new interval_t();
             interval->interval_name = interval_name;
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 8175123..659a8b2 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@ option(ENABLE_ADDRSAN "Enable the address sanitizer" ON)
 option(ENABLE_UBSAN "Enable the ub sanitizer" ON)
 option(ENABLE_TSAN "Enable the thread data race sanitizer" OFF)
 
-set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
-
-add_subdirectory(../)
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 
 include_directories(include/)
 file(GLOB_RECURSE PROJECT_BUILD_FILES "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/*.cpp")