diff --git a/src/common/libkvs/kvs.h b/src/common/libkvs/kvs.h
index 8c763bf830e3..bcc2be0a38e4 100644
--- a/src/common/libkvs/kvs.h
+++ b/src/common/libkvs/kvs.h
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@
 #include "kvs_txn.h"
 #include "kvs_commit.h"
 
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
 /* Synchronization:
  * Process A commits data, then gets the store version V and sends it to B.
  * Process B waits for the store version to be >= V, then reads data.
@@ -24,6 +28,10 @@ int kvs_wait_version (flux_t *h, int version);
  */
 int kvs_dropcache (flux_t *h);
 
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
 #endif /* !_FLUX_CORE_KVS_H */
 
 /*