diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 42be076e42..dbcbce0c91 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2006-03-03  Jan Schmidt  <thaytan@mad.scientist.com>
+
+	* gst/gst.c:
+	Add a check and output a g_warning when GStreamer is built
+	against GLib 2.6 but running against 2.8 or higher, and vice 
+	versa. (Closes: #323542)
+
 2006-03-03  Jan Schmidt  <thaytan@mad.scientist.com>
 
 	* gst/parse/parse.l:
diff --git a/gst/gst.c b/gst/gst.c
index 4abda14afd..b0fbfb7236 100644
--- a/gst/gst.c
+++ b/gst/gst.c
@@ -463,6 +463,23 @@ split_and_iterate (const gchar * stringlist, gchar * separator, GFunc iterator,
 static gboolean
 init_pre (void)
 {
+#ifdef GST_HAVE_GLIB_2_8
+  /* GStreamer was built against a GLib >= 2.8 and is therefore not doing
+   * the refcount hack. Check that it isn't being run against an older GLib */
+  if (glib_major_version < 2 ||
+      (glib_major_version == 2 && glib_minor_version < 8)) {
+#else
+  /* GStreamer was built against a GLib < 2.8 and is therefore doing
+   * the refcount hack. Check that it isn't being run against a newer GLib */
+  if (glib_major_version > 2 ||
+      (glib_major_version == 2 && glib_minor_version >= 8)) {
+#endif
+    g_warning ("GStreamer was compiled against GLib %d.%d.%d but is running"
+        " against %d.%d.%d. This will cause reference counting issues",
+        GLIB_MAJOR_VERSION, GLIB_MINOR_VERSION, GLIB_MICRO_VERSION,
+        glib_major_version, glib_minor_version, glib_micro_version);
+  }
+
   g_type_init ();
 
   if (g_thread_supported ()) {