diff --git a/qemu/scripts/qapi-types.py b/qemu/scripts/qapi-types.py
index 75ee8cf2..99eb8a82 100644
--- a/qemu/scripts/qapi-types.py
+++ b/qemu/scripts/qapi-types.py
@@ -90,6 +90,14 @@ struct %(name)s
 
     ret += generate_struct_fields(members)
 
+    # Make sure that all structs have at least one field; this avoids
+    # potential issues with attempting to malloc space for zero-length structs
+    # in C, and also incompatibility with C++ (where an empty struct is size 1).
+    if not base and not members:
+        ret += mcgen('''
+    char qapi_dummy_field_for_empty_struct;
+''')
+
     if len(fieldname):
         fieldname = " " + fieldname
     ret += mcgen('''