diff --git a/spa/include/spa/defs.h b/spa/include/spa/defs.h
index 14632ee8b..69f547fe8 100644
--- a/spa/include/spa/defs.h
+++ b/spa/include/spa/defs.h
@@ -107,6 +107,12 @@ typedef void (*SpaNotify) (void *data);
 #define SPA_TIMESPEC_TO_TIME(ts) ((ts)->tv_sec * SPA_NSEC_PER_SEC + (ts)->tv_nsec)
 #define SPA_TIMEVAL_TO_TIME(tv)  ((tv)->tv_sec * SPA_NSEC_PER_SEC + (tv)->tv_usec * 1000ll)
 
+#ifdef __GNUC__
+# define SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(fmt, arg1) __attribute__((format(printf, fmt, arg1)))
+#else
+# define SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(fmt, arg1)
+#endif
+
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }  /* extern "C" */
diff --git a/spa/include/spa/log.h b/spa/include/spa/log.h
index 5dc5573a1..95d1ea595 100644
--- a/spa/include/spa/log.h
+++ b/spa/include/spa/log.h
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ struct _SpaLog {
                            const char    *file,
                            int            line,
                            const char    *func,
-                           const char    *fmt, ...);
+                           const char    *fmt, ...) SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(6, 7);
 
   /**
    * SpaLog::logv
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ struct _SpaLog {
                            int            line,
                            const char    *func,
                            const char    *fmt,
-                           va_list        args);
+                           va_list        args) SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(6, 0);
 };
 
 #if __STDC_VERSION__ >= 199901L