diff --git a/src/include/utils/pg_locale.h b/src/include/utils/pg_locale.h
index 2946f46c76f..a0e8d6cecaa 100644
--- a/src/include/utils/pg_locale.h
+++ b/src/include/utils/pg_locale.h
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@
 #include <xlocale.h>
 #endif
 #ifdef USE_ICU
+/* only include the C APIs, to avoid errors in cpluspluscheck */
+#undef U_SHOW_CPLUSPLUS_API
+#define U_SHOW_CPLUSPLUS_API 0
+#undef U_SHOW_CPLUSPLUS_HEADER_API
+#define U_SHOW_CPLUSPLUS_HEADER_API 0
 #include <unicode/ucol.h>
 #endif