diff --git a/include/qemu/osdep.h b/include/qemu/osdep.h
index ba15be9c569c..ab84ecc7c1c0 100644
--- a/include/qemu/osdep.h
+++ b/include/qemu/osdep.h
@@ -111,6 +111,13 @@ extern int daemon(int, int);
 #define WEXITSTATUS(x) (x)
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * This is somewhat like a system header; it must be outside any extern "C"
+ * block because it includes system headers itself, including glib.h,
+ * which will not compile if inside an extern "C" block.
+ */
+#include "glib-compat.h"
+
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include "sysemu/os-win32.h"
 #endif
@@ -123,7 +130,6 @@ extern int daemon(int, int);
 #include <AvailabilityMacros.h>
 #endif
 
-#include "glib-compat.h"
 #include "qemu/typedefs.h"
 
 /*