diff --git a/fmt/format.h b/fmt/format.h
index 1db3d9da..fac9333a 100644
--- a/fmt/format.h
+++ b/fmt/format.h
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ typedef __int64          intmax_t;
 #endif
 
 #if defined(__clang__) && !defined(FMT_ICC_VERSION)
+# define FMT_CLANG_VERSION (__clang_major__ * 100 + __clang_minor__)
 # pragma clang diagnostic push
 # pragma clang diagnostic ignored "-Wdocumentation-unknown-command"
 # pragma clang diagnostic ignored "-Wpadded"
@@ -269,12 +270,8 @@ typedef __int64          intmax_t;
 #endif
 
 #ifndef FMT_USE_EXTERN_TEMPLATES
-// Clang doesn't have a feature check for extern templates so we check
-// for variadic templates which were introduced in the same version.
-// For GCC according to cppreference.com they were introduced in 3.3.
 # define FMT_USE_EXTERN_TEMPLATES \
-    ((__clang__ && FMT_USE_VARIADIC_TEMPLATES) || \
-     (FMT_GCC_VERSION >= 303 && FMT_HAS_GXX_CXX11))
+    (FMT_CLANG_VERSION >= 209 || (FMT_GCC_VERSION >= 303 && FMT_HAS_GXX_CXX11))
 #endif
 
 #ifdef FMT_HEADER_ONLY