diff --git a/icu4c/source/config/mh-cygwin b/icu4c/source/config/mh-cygwin
index 1cc2d74c37a..c5a37179cab 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/config/mh-cygwin
+++ b/icu4c/source/config/mh-cygwin
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 ## Commands to generate dependency files
 GEN_DEPS.c=	$(CC) -E -MM $(DEFS) $(CPPFLAGS)
-GEN_DEPS.cc=	$(CXX) -E -MM $(DEFS) $(CPPFLAGS)
+GEN_DEPS.cc=	$(CXX) -E -MM -std=c++11 $(DEFS) $(CPPFLAGS)
 
 ## Flags to create/use a static library
 ifneq ($(ENABLE_SHARED),YES)
diff --git a/icu4c/source/config/mh-cygwin64 b/icu4c/source/config/mh-cygwin64
index 0af0c88a903..dc9d1a1ab01 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/config/mh-cygwin64
+++ b/icu4c/source/config/mh-cygwin64
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 ## Commands to generate dependency files
 GEN_DEPS.c=	$(CC) -E -MM $(DEFS) $(CPPFLAGS)
-GEN_DEPS.cc=	$(CXX) -E -MM $(DEFS) $(CPPFLAGS)
+GEN_DEPS.cc=	$(CXX) -E -MM -std=c++11 $(DEFS) $(CPPFLAGS)
 
 ## Flags to create/use a static library
 ifneq ($(ENABLE_SHARED),YES)