diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 8cb5fa70f8f7a38f641be84d7f1aa1ea6b3e5aa1..32f08cbb6926a902dc8b22260480483cf5759cde 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ variables:
   LCG_hostos: "x86_64-centos7"
   LCG_release_area: "/cvmfs/sft.cern.ch/lcg/releases"
   LCG_contrib: "/cvmfs/sft.cern.ch/lcg/contrib"
-  CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION: "3.9"
   CCACHE_VERSION: "3.3.4-e92e5"
 
 build:gcc7:opt:
diff --git a/ci-utils/build b/ci-utils/build
index 796d4431889dec185b4dc0c62f639caca59639d0..8ec848f45e8cd31e00b562aa2d399e381b3d3f14 100755
--- a/ci-utils/build
+++ b/ci-utils/build
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ fi
 ${LCG_release_area}/ccache/${CCACHE_VERSION}/${BINARY_TAG}/bin/ccache -z -M 1G
 
 echo 'set(CMAKE_USE_CCACHE ON CACHE BOOL "")' >> cache_preload.cmake
-echo 'set(clang_format_cmd "'$(which lcg-clang-format-${CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION})'" CACHE FILEPATH "")' >> cache_preload.cmake
 
 /usr/bin/time -v bash -x -e -c "
   make BUILDDIR=${BUILDDIR} configure
diff --git a/ci-utils/env_setup.sh b/ci-utils/env_setup.sh
index 9b21a18915eff5e85424d84a4bc71c48705d7d77..0b877f035ab3427fe932bc16405d5449e7c545d3 100644
--- a/ci-utils/env_setup.sh
+++ b/ci-utils/env_setup.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 : ${LCG_release_area:=/cvmfs/sft.cern.ch/lcg/releases}
 : ${LCG_contrib:=/cvmfs/sft.cern.ch/lcg/contrib}
 
-: ${CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION:=3.9}
 : ${CCACHE_VERSION:=3.3.4-e92e5}
 
 # initial required environment
diff --git a/cmake/GaudiProjectConfig.cmake b/cmake/GaudiProjectConfig.cmake
index 101c9771375d62626a23cda13d0f72912aa4a5c8..454f72d3f18a7aa4ac945f21629121a4c7292f74 100644
--- a/cmake/GaudiProjectConfig.cmake
+++ b/cmake/GaudiProjectConfig.cmake
@@ -54,12 +54,16 @@ endif()
 find_program(ccache_cmd NAMES ccache ccache-swig)
 find_program(distcc_cmd distcc)
 find_program(icecc_cmd icecc)
-set(_clang_format_names)
-foreach(_clang_version 5.0 4.0 3.9 3.8 3.7)
-  list(APPEND _clang_format_names lcg-clang-format-${_clang_version} clang-format-${_clang_version})
-endforeach()
-list(APPEND _clang_format_names clang-format)
-find_program(clang_format_cmd NAMES ${_clang_format_names})
+
+set(CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION "6.0" CACHE STRING "Version of clang-format to use")
+find_program(clang_format_cmd
+  NAMES lcg-clang-format-${CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION}.0
+        lcg-clang-format-${CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION}
+        clang-format-${CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION})
+if(clang_format_cmd)
+  message(STATUS "found clang-format ${CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION}: ${clang_format_cmd}")
+endif()
+
 mark_as_advanced(ccache_cmd distcc_cmd icecc_cmd clang_format_cmd)
 
 if(ccache_cmd)
@@ -852,7 +856,7 @@ for f in \"$@\" ; do
     add_dependencies(apply-formatting apply-formatting-c++)
     file(APPEND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/apply-formatting "      ${clang_format_cmd} -style=${GAUDI_CLANG_STYLE} -i \"$f\" ;;\n")
   else()
-    file(APPEND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/apply-formatting "      echo 'formatting of c++ code not supported (install clang-format first)' ; exit 1 ;;\n")
+    file(APPEND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/apply-formatting "      echo 'formatting of c++ code not supported (install clang-format-${CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION} first)' ; exit 1 ;;\n")
   endif()
 
   file(APPEND ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/apply-formatting "    (*.py)\n")