diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 186563365..5d7cd5784 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -322,6 +322,8 @@ hb_headers = hb_base_headers
 
 harfbuzz_deps = [thread_dep, m_dep] + harfbuzz_extra_deps
 
+libharfbuzz_link_language = 'c'
+
 if conf.get('HAVE_FREETYPE', 0) == 1
   hb_sources += hb_ft_sources
   hb_headers += hb_ft_headers
@@ -355,6 +357,8 @@ if conf.get('HAVE_DIRECTWRITE', 0) == 1
   hb_sources += hb_directwrite_sources
   hb_headers += hb_directwrite_headers
   harfbuzz_deps += directwrite_dep
+  # hb-directwrite needs a C++ linker
+  libharfbuzz_link_language = 'cpp'
 endif
 
 if conf.get('HAVE_CORETEXT', 0) == 1
@@ -416,7 +420,7 @@ libharfbuzz = library('harfbuzz', hb_sources,
   version: version,
   install: true,
   darwin_versions: darwin_versions,
-  link_language: 'c',
+  link_language: libharfbuzz_link_language,
 )
 
 libharfbuzz_dep = declare_dependency(