diff --git a/mlir/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -101,6 +101,12 @@
        "Enables building of Python bindings.")
 
 if(MLIR_ENABLE_BINDINGS_PYTHON)
+  if(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS "3.15.0")
+    message(WARNING
+        "Building MLIR Python bindings is known to rely on CMake features "
+        "newer than the LLVM minimum: Recommend upgrading to 3.15+")
+  endif()
+
   include(MLIRDetectPythonEnv)
   # After CMake 3.18, we are able to limit the scope of the search to just
   # Development.Module. Searching for Development will fail in situations where
@@ -108,6 +114,11 @@
   # Development.Module.
   # See https://pybind11.readthedocs.io/en/stable/compiling.html#findpython-mode
   if(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS "3.18.0")
+    message(WARNING
+        "CMake < 3.18.0 is not compatible with statically built Python "
+        "installations. If Python fails to detect below, recommend upgrading "
+        "CMake."
+    )
     set(_python_development_component Development)
   else()
     set(_python_development_component Development.Module)