diff --git a/gnu/packages/bioinformatics.scm b/gnu/packages/bioinformatics.scm
index 7c0429a600..e17c53675c 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/bioinformatics.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/bioinformatics.scm
@@ -4024,6 +4024,14 @@ sequences).")
                             "src/mash/CommandScreen.cpp")
                (("^#include \"kseq\\.h\"")
                 "#include \"htslib/kseq.h\""))
+             #t))
+         (add-after 'fix-includes 'use-c++14
+           (lambda _
+             ;; capnproto 0.7 requires c++14 to build
+             (substitute* "configure.ac"
+               (("c\\+\\+11") "c++14"))
+             (substitute* "Makefile.in"
+               (("c\\+\\+11") "c++14"))
              #t)))))
     (native-inputs
      `(("autoconf" ,autoconf)