diff --git a/gnu/packages/audio.scm b/gnu/packages/audio.scm
index 45c96a33c5b..fb54c48e724 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/audio.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/audio.scm
@@ -4329,7 +4329,6 @@ using Guix System.")
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
      (list
-      #:cmake cmake-next
       #:build-type "Release"
       ;; The build system uses CMake modules features that are only available
       ;; when using Ninja.
diff --git a/gnu/packages/cpp.scm b/gnu/packages/cpp.scm
index 6d60f42b316..0ca58e79393 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/cpp.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/cpp.scm
@@ -928,7 +928,6 @@ library for SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) with runtime dispatch.")
                 "0q7bpywn8ljsj3dymvv19cm7n0r51vg5hj1jsapdl5bwpwf7bf41"))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (native-inputs (list gcc-15 pkg-config))
-    (arguments (list #:cmake cmake-next))
     (inputs (list cairo
                   hyprutils
                   libjpeg-turbo
diff --git a/gnu/packages/databases.scm b/gnu/packages/databases.scm
index aa9e5f01d35..2bfa37ea901 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/databases.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/databases.scm
@@ -5185,7 +5185,6 @@ with integrated support for finding required rows quickly.")
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
      (list
-      #:cmake cmake ;needs 3.25+
       #:tests? #f
       #:phases
       #~(modify-phases %standard-phases
diff --git a/gnu/packages/emulators.scm b/gnu/packages/emulators.scm
index 209f05d4570..eb196818a6d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/emulators.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/emulators.scm
@@ -147,7 +147,6 @@
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
      (list #:tests? #f                  ; No tests
-           #:cmake cmake-next           ; Requires cmake >= 3.28
            #:configure-flags
            #~(list "-DARES_BUILD_LOCAL=FALSE"
                    "-DARES_BUILD_OFFICIAL=TRUE"
diff --git a/gnu/packages/games.scm b/gnu/packages/games.scm
index dcc31bf622e..35c6feb0d75 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/games.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/games.scm
@@ -13501,7 +13501,6 @@ virtual reality devices.")
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
      (list
-      #:cmake cmake-next
       #:configure-flags
       #~(list "-DUSE_TESTS=ON" "-DOPENGL_BACKEND=OpenGL")))
     (native-inputs (list python-3.10 glibc-locales googletest))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/image-viewers.scm b/gnu/packages/image-viewers.scm
index 8101977f2df..f594e898d3d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/image-viewers.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/image-viewers.scm
@@ -1292,7 +1292,6 @@ any user may run.  Everything is free and privacy is the first concern.")
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
      (list #:tests? #f ; no tests.
-           #:cmake cmake-next
            #:configure-flags
            #~ (list "-DMARCH_NATIVE=OFF"
                     "-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"
diff --git a/gnu/packages/machine-learning.scm b/gnu/packages/machine-learning.scm
index 51e53772cf9..4d8ff4b5e38 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/machine-learning.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/machine-learning.scm
@@ -4819,7 +4819,6 @@ TensorFlow.js, PyTorch, and MediaPipe.")
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
      (list
-      #:cmake cmake-next
       #:configure-flags
       ''("-DFBGEMM_LIBRARY_TYPE=shared")
       ;; Tests require AVX2 or AVX-512 instructions
diff --git a/gnu/packages/messaging.scm b/gnu/packages/messaging.scm
index 77deb1da269..6f6184240f0 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/messaging.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/messaging.scm
@@ -2402,7 +2402,6 @@ notifications, and Python scripting support.")
      (list olm openssl qtkeychain-qt6 qtmultimedia))
     (arguments
      (list #:qtbase qtbase
-           #:cmake cmake-next
            #:configure-flags
            #~(list "-DBUILD_TESTING=ON"
                    "-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/music.scm b/gnu/packages/music.scm
index 14c10372999..81ad799a918 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/music.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/music.scm
@@ -627,7 +627,6 @@ playing your music.")
       (build-system cmake-build-system)
       (arguments
        (list
-        #:cmake cmake                   ;needs 3.25
         #:tests? #false                 ;there are none
         #:phases
         #~(modify-phases %standard-phases
diff --git a/gnu/packages/python-compression.scm b/gnu/packages/python-compression.scm
index 683afae0354..4361c0b65ed 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/python-compression.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/python-compression.scm
@@ -835,8 +835,7 @@ wrapper.  It provides a backport of the @code{Path} object.")
                      (lambda _
                        (setenv "LIBDEFLATE_PREFIX"
                                #$(this-package-input "libdeflate")))))))
-    ;; CMake >= 3.26 required.
-    (native-inputs (list cmake-next python-pytest python-scikit-build-core))
+    (native-inputs (list cmake-minimal python-pytest python-scikit-build-core))
     (inputs (list libdeflate))
     (home-page "https://github.com/dcwatson/deflate")
     (synopsis "Python wrapper for @code{libdeflate}")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/video.scm b/gnu/packages/video.scm
index 5cda7f1eeaf..b42f45d727f 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/video.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/video.scm
@@ -4151,7 +4151,6 @@ be used for realtime video capture via Linux-specific APIs.")
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
      (list
-      #:cmake cmake-next                ;needs cmake >= 3.28
       #:tests? #f
       #:configure-flags
       #~(let ((libdir (string-append (assoc-ref %outputs "out") "/lib")))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/vulkan.scm b/gnu/packages/vulkan.scm
index 2f609c787c4..53e6e9d4b1d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/vulkan.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/vulkan.scm
@@ -225,8 +225,7 @@ translation between LLVM IR and SPIR-V.")
        (file-name (git-file-name name version))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
-     `(#:cmake ,cmake-minimal-3.30
-       #:configure-flags '("-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON"
+     `(#:configure-flags '("-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON"
                            "-DALLOW_EXTERNAL_SPIRV_TOOLS=ON"
                            ,@(if (target-riscv64?)
                                  `("-DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS=-latomic")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/wm.scm b/gnu/packages/wm.scm
index 52642760e0a..92f86c25f89 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/wm.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/wm.scm
@@ -393,8 +393,7 @@ loginctl commands (lock/unlock/before-sleep) and inhibit.")
                 "0mn97wlzc5ccywbq87ka7a27jajkdkgypkfzkcan014viph80wif"))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
-     (list #:cmake cmake-next
-           #:tests? #f                  ;No tests.
+     (list #:tests? #f                  ;No tests.
            #:configure-flags #~'("-DNO_HYPRPM=True")
            #:phases
            #~(modify-phases %standard-phases
diff --git a/gnu/packages/xdisorg.scm b/gnu/packages/xdisorg.scm
index 7737aed2b18..dcf0ce6f93f 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/xdisorg.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/xdisorg.scm
@@ -261,8 +261,7 @@ command line, without displaying a keyboard at all.")
                 "0cwbd9cdbg40frhircwfbaxdqh11s8jqq9dqy228j9zvb27y2b72"))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
-     (list #:cmake cmake-next
-           ;; TODO: Figure out what's expected in the test environment.
+     (list ;; TODO: Figure out what's expected in the test environment.
            #:tests? #f))
     (native-inputs
      (list gcc-15 hyprwayland-scanner pkg-config))
@@ -3944,9 +3943,7 @@ This package is the fork of hsetroot by Hyriand.")
         (base32 "0h0iibncjl780nnwvf1mfmqckdzzc4b4fphflj4mq56nswf697ha"))))
     (build-system cmake-build-system)
     (arguments
-     (list
-      #:cmake cmake-next
-      #:tests? #f)) ;No tests.
+     (list #:tests? #f)) ;No tests.
     (native-inputs
      (list gcc-15
            pkg-config))
@@ -3984,8 +3981,7 @@ reduce percieved brightness below the monitor's minimum.")
       (base32 "1f0vcp0c9d3m9v3avajprpv14khnv3wk3y9fi3pcwr5xf2alaxv2"))))
    (build-system cmake-build-system)
    (arguments
-    `(#:cmake ,cmake-next
-      #:phases
+    `(#:phases
       (modify-phases %standard-phases
                      ;; remove when fixed
                      (add-after 'unpack 'fixgldiscover
@@ -4034,9 +4030,7 @@ GPU-accelerated screen locking utility.")
              (base32
               "0j3hbqfx40cjxkvaiqzfij8pgblg2hyv9lbbjjh4iahciwgh7623"))))
    (build-system cmake-build-system)
-   (arguments
-    `(#:tests? #f ;; no test
-      #:cmake ,cmake-next))
+   (arguments '(#:tests? #f)) ;; no test
    (native-inputs (list gcc-14 pkg-config))
    (inputs
     (list cairo