diff --git a/gst/app/gstapp.c b/gst/app/gstapp.c
index 9732fc8c20..1a036a204e 100644
--- a/gst/app/gstapp.c
+++ b/gst/app/gstapp.c
@@ -16,47 +16,18 @@
  * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor,
  * Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
  */
-/**
- * SECTION:element-appsrc
- * @title: appsrc
- *
- * The appsrc element can be used by applications to insert data into a
- * GStreamer pipeline. Unlike most GStreamer elements, Appsrc provides
- * external API functions.
- *
- * For the documentation of the API, please see the
- * <link linkend="gst-plugins-base-libs-appsrc">libgstapp</link> section in the
- * GStreamer Plugins Base Libraries documentation.
- */
-/**
- * SECTION:element-appsink
- * @title: appsink
- *
- * Appsink is a sink plugin that supports many different methods for making
- * the application get a handle on the GStreamer data in a pipeline. Unlike
- * most GStreamer elements, Appsink provides external API functions.
- *
- * For the documentation of the API, please see the
- * <link linkend="gst-plugins-base-libs-appsink">libgstapp</link> section in
- * the GStreamer Plugins Base Libraries documentation.
- */
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
-#include "config.h"
-#endif
-
-#include <gst/gst.h>
-
-#include <gst/app/gstappsrc.h>
-#include <gst/app/gstappsink.h>
+#include "gstappelements.h"
 
 static gboolean
 plugin_init (GstPlugin * plugin)
 {
-  gst_element_register (plugin, "appsrc", GST_RANK_NONE, GST_TYPE_APP_SRC);
-  gst_element_register (plugin, "appsink", GST_RANK_NONE, GST_TYPE_APP_SINK);
+  gboolean ret = FALSE;
 
-  return TRUE;
+  ret |= GST_ELEMENT_REGISTER (appsrc, plugin);
+  ret |= GST_ELEMENT_REGISTER (appsink, plugin);
+
+  return ret;
 }
 
 GST_PLUGIN_DEFINE (GST_VERSION_MAJOR,
diff --git a/gst/app/gstappelements.h b/gst/app/gstappelements.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0328aad716
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gst/app/gstappelements.h
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/* GStreamer
+ * Copyright (C) 2007 David Schleef <ds@schleef.org>
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
+ *   @Author: Stéphane Cerveau <scerveau@collabora.com>
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+ * Library General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free
+ * Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+ */
+
+#ifndef __GST_APP_ELEMENTS_H__
+#define __GST_APP_ELEMENTS_H__
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include "config.h"
+#endif
+
+#include <gst/gst.h>
+
+#include <gst/app/gstappsrc.h>
+#include <gst/app/gstappsink.h>
+
+GST_ELEMENT_REGISTER_DECLARE (appsrc);
+GST_ELEMENT_REGISTER_DECLARE (appsink);
+
+#endif /* __GST_APP_ELEMENTS_H__ */
diff --git a/gst/app/gstappsink.c b/gst/app/gstappsink.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..108a2a814d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gst/app/gstappsink.c
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/* GStreamer
+ * Copyright (C) 2007 David Schleef <ds@schleef.org>
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Library General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor,
+ * Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+ */
+/**
+ * SECTION:element-appsink
+ * @title: appsink
+ *
+ * Appsink is a sink plugin that supports many different methods for making
+ * the application get a handle on the GStreamer data in a pipeline. Unlike
+ * most GStreamer elements, Appsink provides external API functions.
+ *
+ * For the documentation of the API, please see the
+ * <link linkend="gst-plugins-base-libs-appsink">libgstapp</link> section in
+ * the GStreamer Plugins Base Libraries documentation.
+ */
+
+#include "gstappelements.h"
+
+GST_ELEMENT_REGISTER_DEFINE (appsink, "appsink", GST_RANK_NONE,
+    GST_TYPE_APP_SINK);
diff --git a/gst/app/gstappsrc.c b/gst/app/gstappsrc.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c6a81e7f96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gst/app/gstappsrc.c
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/* GStreamer
+ * Copyright (C) 2007 David Schleef <ds@schleef.org>
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Library General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor,
+ * Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+ */
+/**
+ * SECTION:element-appsrc
+ * @title: appsrc
+ *
+ * The appsrc element can be used by applications to insert data into a
+ * GStreamer pipeline. Unlike most GStreamer elements, Appsrc provides
+ * external API functions.
+ *
+ * For the documentation of the API, please see the
+ * <link linkend="gst-plugins-base-libs-appsrc">libgstapp</link> section in the
+ * GStreamer Plugins Base Libraries documentation.
+ */
+
+
+#include "gstappelements.h"
+
+GST_ELEMENT_REGISTER_DEFINE (appsrc, "appsrc", GST_RANK_NONE, GST_TYPE_APP_SRC);
diff --git a/gst/app/meson.build b/gst/app/meson.build
index 79b3142191..8bdf2d8eb5 100644
--- a/gst/app/meson.build
+++ b/gst/app/meson.build
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
-gstapp_plugin = library('gstapp',
+app_sources = [
   'gstapp.c',
+  'gstappsink.c',
+  'gstappsrc.c',
+]
+
+gstapp_plugin = library('gstapp',
+  app_sources,
   c_args: gst_plugins_base_args,
   include_directories: [configinc],
   dependencies : [gst_base_dep, app_dep, tag_dep],