diff --git a/CraftSettings.ini.template b/CraftSettings.ini.template
--- a/CraftSettings.ini.template
+++ b/CraftSettings.ini.template
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 ## This option should be set to False if you use the msvc 201X Express Edition 64bit compiler
 ## in all other cases, simply keep this option commented out
 #Native=False
+## This option specifies which MSVC toolset to use. Leave this commented out for MSVC to pick
+## the newest available toolset.
+## This is an expert option, do not touch it unless you know exactly what it means.
+#MSVCToolset=14.16
 
 ## This option can be used to enable a notification backend.
 ## As soon as the buildprocess of a project has finished a notification will be displayed.
diff --git a/bin/CraftCompiler.py b/bin/CraftCompiler.py
--- a/bin/CraftCompiler.py
+++ b/bin/CraftCompiler.py
@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@
 
         self._architecture = "x86" if self._abi.endswith("32") else "x64"
 
+        self._MSVCToolset = None
+        if self.isMSVC():
+            self._MSVCToolset = CraftCore.settings.get("General", "MSVCToolset")
+
     def __str__(self):
         return "-".join(self.signature)
 
@@ -128,6 +132,10 @@
     def architecture(self):
         return self._architecture
 
+    @property
+    def msvcToolset(self):
+        return self._MSVCToolset
+
     @property
     def gnuArchitecture(self):
         return "x86" if self.isX86() else "x86_64"
diff --git a/bin/CraftSetupHelper.py b/bin/CraftSetupHelper.py
--- a/bin/CraftSetupHelper.py
+++ b/bin/CraftSetupHelper.py
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@
         return SetupHelper._getOutput(command + args)[1]
 
     @staticmethod
-    def getMSVCEnv(version=None, architecture="x86", native=True) -> str:
+    def getMSVCEnv(version=None, architecture="x86", toolset=None, native=True) -> str:
         if native:
             architectures = {"x86": "amd64_x86", "x64": "amd64"}
         else:
@@ -186,8 +186,12 @@
         if version == 14:
             # are we using msvc2017 with "VC++ 2015.3 v14.00 (v140) toolset for desktop"
             path = SetupHelper._callVCVER(15, args=["-products", "*", "-requires", "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.140"], native=native)
-            if path:
-                args += " -vcvars_ver=14.0"
+            if path and not toolset:
+                toolset = "14.0"
+
+        if toolset:
+            args += f" -vcvars_ver={toolset}"
+
         if not path:
             path = SetupHelper._callVCVER(version, native=native)
         if not path:
@@ -210,6 +214,7 @@
         if CraftCore.compiler.isMSVC():
             return SetupHelper.getMSVCEnv(CraftCore.compiler.getInternalVersion(),
                                                                   CraftCore.compiler.architecture,
+                                                                  CraftCore.compiler.msvcToolset,
                                                                   CraftCore.compiler.isNative())
         elif CraftCore.compiler.isIntel():
             architectures = {"x86": "ia32", "x64": "intel64"}