diff --git a/cmake/modules/DunePolicy.cmake b/cmake/modules/DunePolicy.cmake
index 9df00b837a61a71863fbaaa467e76103264250d4..19fb82f1cac3bfa605be1a55728e00dfe405b487 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/DunePolicy.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/DunePolicy.cmake
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ influenced by the global cmake variable ``DUNE_POLICY_DEFAULT``.
   .. code-block:: cmake
 
     dune_policy(GET <policy> <var>)
-    dune_policy(SET <policy> <value>)
+    dune_policy(SET <policy> <value> [QUIET])
     dune_policy(LIST)
 
 .. cmake:command:: dune_define_policy
@@ -41,41 +41,28 @@ Global options
 ``DUNE_POLICY_DISABLE_WARNING`` (default=FALSE)
   If set to `TRUE`, warnings about unset dune policies are deactivated.
 
-``DUNE_POLICY_IGNORE_UNDEFINED`` (default=FALSE)
-  Ignore undefined dune policies in GET and SET operations.
-  This option is useful if you want to set a policy in a module that
-  should be compatible with a range of upstream dune modules where
-  possibly not all policies are already defined. If this option is set to
-  `FALSE`, an error message is shown if you try to set or get an undefined
-  policy.
-
 #]=======================================================================]
 include_guard(GLOBAL)
 
 set(DUNE_POLICY_DEFAULT "OLD" CACHE STRING "Default value for an unset dune policy.")
 set_property(CACHE DUNE_POLICY_DEFAULT PROPERTY STRINGS "OLD" "NEW")
 option(DUNE_POLICY_DISABLE_WARNING "Do not show warnings about unset dune policies." FALSE)
-option(DUNE_POLICY_IGNORE_UNDEFINED "Ignore undefined dune policies in GET and SET operations." FALSE)
 
 # print a help message with the signature of the dune_policy function
 function(dune_policy_help _errorlevel _msg)
-  message(${_errorlevel} "${_msg}"
-    "The function `dune_policy` has the following signatures:"
-    "  dune_policy(GET <policy> <var>): extract the value of the given <policy> in the variable <var>."
-    "  dune_policy(SET <policy> <value>): change the given <policy> to <value>."
-    "  dune_policy(LIST): list all registered policies with their values."
-    "  dune_policy(HELP): show this help message.")
+  message(${_errorlevel} "${_msg}\n"
+    "The function `dune_policy` has the following signatures:\n"
+    "  dune_policy(GET <policy> <var>): extract the value of the given <policy> in the variable <var>.\n"
+    "  dune_policy(SET <policy> <value> [QUIET]): change the given <policy> to <value>.\n"
+    "  dune_policy(LIST): list all registered policies with their values.\n"
+    "  dune_policy(HELP): show this help message.\n")
 endfunction(dune_policy_help)
 
 # get the value of a _policy, or the DUNE_POLICY_DEFAULT, or NEW if the policy's dune version is reached
 function(dune_get_policy _policy _var)
   get_property(_policy_defined GLOBAL PROPERTY DUNE_POLICY_${_policy} DEFINED)
   if(NOT _policy_defined)
-    if(DUNE_POLICY_IGNORE_UNDEFINED)
-      return()
-    else()
-      dune_policy_help(FATAL_ERROR "Undefined policy ${_policy}.")
-    endif()
+    dune_policy_help(FATAL_ERROR "Undefined policy ${_policy}.")
   endif()
   get_property(_policy_set GLOBAL PROPERTY DUNE_POLICY_${_policy} SET)
   if(NOT _policy_set)
@@ -100,15 +87,18 @@ function(dune_get_policy _policy _var)
   set(${_var} ${_policy_value} PARENT_SCOPE)
 endfunction(dune_get_policy)
 
-# set a given _policy to the _value
+# set a given _policy to the _value. If QUIET is passed as additional argument, ignore undefined policies.
 function(dune_set_policy _policy _value)
+  set(_quiet FALSE)
+  if(ARGC GREATER 2 AND "${ARGV2}" STREQUAL "QUIET")
+    set(_quiet TRUE)
+  endif()
   get_property(_policy_defined GLOBAL PROPERTY DUNE_POLICY_${_policy} DEFINED)
   if(NOT _policy_defined)
-    if(DUNE_POLICY_IGNORE_UNDEFINED)
-      return()
-    else()
-      dune_policy_help(FATAL_ERROR "Undefined policy ${_policy}.")
+    if(NOT _quiet)
+      dune_policy_help(AUTHOR_WARNING "Undefined policy ${_policy} (ignored).")
     endif()
+    return()
   endif()
   set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY DUNE_POLICY_${_policy} ${_value})
 endfunction(dune_set_policy)
@@ -116,16 +106,16 @@ endfunction(dune_set_policy)
 # generic policy method to get, set, or list policies
 function(dune_policy _method)
   if(_method STREQUAL "GET")
-    if(ARGV2 LESS 3)
+    if(ARGC LESS 3)
       dune_policy_help(FATAL_ERROR "Not enough arguments passed to dune_policy(GET...)")
     endif()
     dune_get_policy(${ARGV1} _var)
     set(${ARGV2} ${_var} PARENT_SCOPE)
   elseif(_method STREQUAL "SET")
-    if(ARGV2 LESS 3)
+    if(ARGC LESS 3)
       dune_policy_help(FATAL_ERROR "Not enough arguments passed to dune_policy(SET...)")
     endif()
-    dune_set_policy(${ARGV1} ${ARGV2})
+    dune_set_policy(${ARGN})
   elseif(_method STREQUAL "LIST")
     get_property(_policies GLOBAL PROPERTY DUNE_POLICIES)
     foreach(_policy ${policies})