diff --git a/DOCS/man/libmpv.rst b/DOCS/man/libmpv.rst
index 37f12798db..107aae5d67 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/libmpv.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/libmpv.rst
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ EMBEDDING INTO OTHER PROGRAMS (LIBMPV)
 ======================================
 
 mpv can be embedded into other programs as video/audio playback backend. The
-recommended way to do so is using libmpv. See ``mpv/client.h`` in the mpv
+recommended way to do so is using libmpv. See ``include/mpv/client.h`` in the mpv
 source code repository. This provides a C API. Bindings for other languages
 might be available (see wiki).
 
 Since libmpv merely allows access to underlying mechanisms that can control
 mpv, further documentation is spread over a few places:
 
-- https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/mpv/client.h
+- https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/blob/master/include/mpv/client.h
 - https://mpv.io/manual/master/#options
 - https://mpv.io/manual/master/#list-of-input-commands
 - https://mpv.io/manual/master/#properties
diff --git a/fuzzers/meson.build b/fuzzers/meson.build
index 3a2b3631eb..4f7c374e53 100644
--- a/fuzzers/meson.build
+++ b/fuzzers/meson.build
@@ -68,12 +68,12 @@ foreach cmd : ['file', '-config-file', '-input-conf']
 endforeach
 
 fuzzers += executable('fuzzer_options_parser', 'fuzzer_options_parser.c',
-                      link_language: 'cpp', include_directories: incdir,
+                      link_language: 'cpp', include_directories: incdir_public,
                       objects: libmpv.extract_all_objects(recursive: true),
                       dependencies: dependencies)
 
 fuzzers += executable('fuzzer_json', 'fuzzer_json.c',
-                      link_language: 'cpp', include_directories: incdir,
+                      link_language: 'cpp', include_directories: [incdir, incdir_public],
                       objects: libmpv.extract_all_objects(recursive: true),
                       dependencies: dependencies)
 
diff --git a/mpv/client.h b/include/mpv/client.h
similarity index 100%
rename from mpv/client.h
rename to include/mpv/client.h
diff --git a/mpv/render.h b/include/mpv/render.h
similarity index 100%
rename from mpv/render.h
rename to include/mpv/render.h
diff --git a/mpv/render_gl.h b/include/mpv/render_gl.h
similarity index 100%
rename from mpv/render_gl.h
rename to include/mpv/render_gl.h
diff --git a/mpv/stream_cb.h b/include/mpv/stream_cb.h
similarity index 100%
rename from mpv/stream_cb.h
rename to include/mpv/stream_cb.h
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 57b9c5bccf..57d8bde65b 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1755,13 +1755,15 @@ if win32
 endif
 
 
+incdir_public = include_directories('./include')
 client_h_define = cc.get_define('MPV_CLIENT_API_VERSION', prefix: '#include "mpv/client.h"',
-                                include_directories: include_directories('.'))
+                                include_directories: incdir_public)
 major = client_h_define.split('|')[0].split('<<')[0].strip('() ')
 minor = client_h_define.split('|')[1].strip('() ')
 client_api_version = major + '.' + minor + '.0'
 
 libmpv = library('mpv', sources, dependencies: dependencies, gnu_symbol_visibility: 'hidden',
+                 include_directories: incdir_public,
                  link_args: cc.get_supported_link_arguments(['-Wl,-Bsymbolic']),
                  version: client_api_version, install: get_option('libmpv'),
                  build_by_default: get_option('libmpv'))
@@ -1772,12 +1774,12 @@ if get_option('libmpv')
     pkg.generate(libmpv, version: client_api_version,
                  description: 'mpv media player client library')
 
-    headers = ['mpv/client.h', 'mpv/render.h',
-               'mpv/render_gl.h', 'mpv/stream_cb.h']
+    headers = ['include/mpv/client.h', 'include/mpv/render.h',
+               'include/mpv/render_gl.h', 'include/mpv/stream_cb.h']
     install_headers(headers, subdir: 'mpv')
 
     # Allow projects to build with libmpv by cloning into ./subprojects/mpv
-    libmpv_dep = declare_dependency(include_directories: '.',  link_with: libmpv)
+    libmpv_dep = declare_dependency(include_directories: incdir_public, link_with: libmpv)
     meson.override_dependency('mpv', libmpv_dep)
 endif
 
diff --git a/osdep/mac/meson.build b/osdep/mac/meson.build
index 908bd1121d..d886e5406a 100644
--- a/osdep/mac/meson.build
+++ b/osdep/mac/meson.build
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ swift_flags += extra_flags
 swift_compile = [swift_prog, swift_flags, '-module-name', 'swift',
                  '-emit-module-path', '@OUTPUT0@', '-import-objc-header', bridge,
                  '-emit-objc-header-path', '@OUTPUT1@', '-o', '@OUTPUT2@',
-                 '@INPUT@', '-I.', '-I' + source_root,
+                 '@INPUT@', '-I.', '-I' + source_root, '-I' + source_root / 'include',
                  '-I' + libplacebo.get_variable('includedir',
                             default_value: source_root / 'subprojects' / 'libplacebo' / 'src' / 'include'),
                  '-I' + libavutil.get_variable('includedir')]
diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
index 3eeaaa0b6f..e8f995cf81 100644
--- a/test/meson.build
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ gl_video = executable('gl-video', 'gl_video.c', objects: gl_video_objects,
                       link_with: [img_utils, test_utils])
 test('gl-video', gl_video)
 
-json = executable('json', 'json.c', include_directories: incdir, link_with: test_utils)
+json = executable('json', 'json.c', include_directories: [incdir, incdir_public], link_with: test_utils)
 test('json', json)
 
 linked_list = executable('linked-list', files('linked_list.c'), include_directories: incdir)
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ if get_option('libmpv')
     endif
     if shared
         exe = executable('libmpv-lifetime', sources: 'libmpv_lifetime.c',
-                         include_directories: incdir)
+                         include_directories: incdir_public)
         test('libmpv-lifetime', exe, depends: mpvlib, suite: 'libmpv')
     endif
 endif