diff --git a/subprojects/gst-editing-services/tests/check/gescpp.cc b/subprojects/gst-editing-services/tests/check/gescpp.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..22965a5d1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/subprojects/gst-editing-services/tests/check/gescpp.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/* GStreamer
+ * Copyright (C) 2024 Tim-Philipp Müller <tim centricular net>
+ *
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif
+
+#include <gst/check/check.h>
+
+#include <ges/ges.h>
+
+/* we mostly just want to make sure that our library headers don't
+ * contain anything a C++ compiler might not like */
+GST_START_TEST (test_nothing)
+{
+  gst_init (NULL, NULL);
+}
+
+GST_END_TEST;
+
+static Suite *
+gescpp_suite (void)
+{
+  Suite *s = suite_create ("GstGESCpp");
+  TCase *tc_chain = tcase_create ("C++ GES headers tests");
+
+  suite_add_tcase (s, tc_chain);
+  tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_nothing);
+
+  return s;
+}
+
+GST_CHECK_MAIN (gescpp);
diff --git a/subprojects/gst-editing-services/tests/check/meson.build b/subprojects/gst-editing-services/tests/check/meson.build
index a283f0371b..784c592ba6 100644
--- a/subprojects/gst-editing-services/tests/check/meson.build
+++ b/subprojects/gst-editing-services/tests/check/meson.build
@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ ges_tests = [
     ['nle/tempochange']
 ]
 
+# Make sure our headers are C++ clean
+if add_languages('cpp', native: false, required: false)
+  ges_tests += [
+    [ 'gescpp.cc', false ],
+  ]
+endif
+
 fsmod = import('fs')
 test_defines = [
   '-UG_DISABLE_ASSERT',
@@ -50,7 +57,11 @@ endif
 gst_plugin_scanner_path = join_paths(gst_plugin_scanner_dir, 'gst-plugin-scanner')
 
 foreach t : ges_tests
-  fname = '@0@.c'.format(t.get(0))
+  if t.get(0).endswith('.cc')
+    fname = t.get(0)
+  else
+    fname = '@0@.c'.format(t.get(0))
+  endif
   test_name = t.get(0).underscorify()
   if t.length() == 2
     skip_test = t.get(1)