diff --git a/include/villas/atomic.h b/include/villas/atomic.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a27e9b00d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/villas/atomic.h
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/** Workaround for differently named atomic types in C/C++
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @author Georg Reinke <georg.reinke@rwth-aachen.de>
+ * @copyright 2017, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+ *********************************************************************************/
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+
+#include <atomic>
+
+typedef std::atomic_int atomic_int;
+typedef std::atomic_size_t atomic_size_t;
+
+#else
+
+#include <stdatomic.h>
+
+#endif
diff --git a/include/villas/queue.h b/include/villas/queue.h
index 71d615d02..fa88fb8d8 100644
--- a/include/villas/queue.h
+++ b/include/villas/queue.h
@@ -33,11 +33,12 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
-#include <stdatomic.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#include "atomic.h"
 #include "common.h"
 
 /* Forward declarations */
diff --git a/include/villas/sample.h b/include/villas/sample.h
index c7557ae08..df98180b1 100644
--- a/include/villas/sample.h
+++ b/include/villas/sample.h
@@ -7,10 +7,15 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include "atomic.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
-#include <stdatomic.h>
 #include <time.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
@@ -81,3 +86,7 @@ int sample_get_data_format(struct sample *s, int idx);
 
 /** Set number representation for a single value of a sample. */
 int sample_set_data_format(struct sample *s, int idx, enum sample_data_format fmt);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/include/villas/shmem.h b/include/villas/shmem.h
index 271654495..d75826ca0 100644
--- a/include/villas/shmem.h
+++ b/include/villas/shmem.h
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
 #include "pool.h"
 #include "queue.h"
 #include "queue_signalled.h"
@@ -80,3 +84,7 @@ int shmem_shared_write(struct shmem_shared *shm, struct sample *smps[], unsigned
 size_t shmem_total_size(int insize, int outsize, int sample_size);
 
 /** @} */
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif