diff --git a/src/systemd/meson.build b/src/systemd/meson.build
index c9c484b411..3d328e5fd3 100644
--- a/src/systemd/meson.build
+++ b/src/systemd/meson.build
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ if cc.has_argument('-std=iso9899:2017')
         opts += [['c', '-std=iso9899:2017']]
 endif
 
-if add_languages('cpp', required : false)
+if cxx_cmd != ''
         opts += [['c++'],
                  ['c++', '-std=c++98'],
                  ['c++', '-std=c++11']]