diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index bcee61d65..95f21b7bd 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ matrix:
   fast_finish: true
   include:
     - if: repo = arvidn/libtorrent
-      env: variant=release sonar_scan=1 toolset=gcc
+      env: variant=release sonar_scan=1 toolset=gcc check_headers=1
     - env: variant=debug toolset=gcc lint=1 pylint=1 clang_tidy=1
       addons:
         apt:
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ before_install:
 
   - git submodule update --init --recursive
   - 'if [[ $crypto == "" ]]; then export crypto=built-in; fi'
-  - 'if [[ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME == "osx" && ( "$tests" == "1" || "$sim" == 1 || "$examples" == "1" || "$tools" == "1" || "$python" == "1" ) ]]; then
+  - 'if [[ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME == "osx" && ( "$tests" == "1" || "$sim" == 1 || "$examples" == "1" || "$tools" == "1" || "$python" == "1" || "$check_headers" == "1" ) ]]; then
     travis_retry brew update > /dev/null && brew install ccache boost-build;
     fi'
   - 'if [[ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME == "osx" && "$python" == "1" ]]; then
@@ -207,6 +207,10 @@ script:
        bjam -a -j3 clang_tidy;
     fi'
 
+  - 'if [ "$check_headers" == "1" ]; then
+      bjam -j3 check-headers crypto=$crypto debug-iterators=on picker-debugging=on asserts=on invariant-checks=full $toolset variant=$variant;
+    fi'
+
 # if we are building with code coverage, report it as soon as possible
 # libtorrent is the name of the test suite target
   - cd test
diff --git a/Jamfile b/Jamfile
index 73374f034..85540db6f 100644
--- a/Jamfile
+++ b/Jamfile
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import errors ;
 import feature : feature ;
 import package ;
 import virtual-target ;
+import cast ;
 
 BOOST_ROOT = [ modules.peek : BOOST_ROOT ] ;
 CXXFLAGS = [ modules.peek : CXXFLAGS ] ;
@@ -844,3 +845,20 @@ package.install install
 	: torrent
 	: $(headers)
 	;
+
+local header_targets ;
+for local target in $(headers)
+{
+	if ! [ path.basename $(target) ] in windows.hpp win_util.hpp win_crypto_provider.hpp torrent_impl.hpp cppint_import_export.hpp
+	{
+		# this cast tells boost build that the header files really *are* cpp files
+		# otherwise the object rule doesn't know which language to interpret them as
+		obj header-build/$(target).o : [ cast.cast _ cpp : $(target) ]
+			: <library>/torrent <cxxflags>-fsyntax-only ;
+		explicit header-build/$(target).o ;
+		header_targets += $(target) ;
+	}
+}
+
+alias check-headers : header-build/$(header_targets).o ;
+explicit check-headers ;
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/allocating_handler.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/allocating_handler.hpp
index d5d386ce0..f2353f724 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/allocating_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/allocating_handler.hpp
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include "libtorrent/error_code.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/aux_/aligned_storage.hpp"
 
+#include "libtorrent/debug.hpp" // for TORRENT_ASSERT
+
 #include <type_traits>
 
 namespace libtorrent { namespace aux {
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/dev_random.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/dev_random.hpp
index a46f3d6b8..e861b366c 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/dev_random.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/dev_random.hpp
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 #include "libtorrent/config.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/span.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/error_code.hpp" // for system_error
 #include "libtorrent/aux_/throw.hpp"
 
 #include <fcntl.h>
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/has_block.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/has_block.hpp
index f06582a9c..6b5709c8e 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/has_block.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/has_block.hpp
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #define TORRENT_HAS_BLOCK_HPP_INCLUDED
 
 #include "libtorrent/piece_block.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/peer_connection.hpp" // for pending_block
 
 namespace libtorrent { namespace aux {
 
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/instantiate_connection.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/instantiate_connection.hpp
index fc2070da4..83826a966 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/instantiate_connection.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/instantiate_connection.hpp
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #define TORRENT_INSTANTIATE_CONNECTION
 
 #include "libtorrent/aux_/export.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/io_service.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/aux_/proxy_settings.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/aux_/socket_type.hpp"
 
 namespace libtorrent {
 
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/lsd.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/lsd.hpp
index 5e433bbb8..ecc391aba 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/lsd.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/lsd.hpp
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #define LIBTORRENT_LSD_HPP
 
 #include "libtorrent/config.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/socket.hpp" // for tcp::endpoint
+#include "libtorrent/sha1_hash.hpp"
 
 namespace libtorrent { namespace aux {
 	struct TORRENT_EXTRA_EXPORT lsd_callback
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/noexcept_movable.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/noexcept_movable.hpp
index 4d25c93db..b59e7de59 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/noexcept_movable.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/noexcept_movable.hpp
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #define TORRENT_NOEXCEPT_MOVABLE_HPP_INCLUDED
 
 #include <type_traits>
+#include <utility>
 
 namespace libtorrent {
 namespace aux {
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/portmap.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/portmap.hpp
index 083948c4b..437b3d003 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/portmap.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/portmap.hpp
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 #include "libtorrent/config.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/portmap.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/address.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/time.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/error_code.hpp"
 
 namespace libtorrent {
 namespace aux {
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/range.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/range.hpp
index d9b89bd29..4856ce955 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/range.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/range.hpp
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #ifndef TORRENT_RANGE_HPP
 #define TORRENT_RANGE_HPP
 
+#include "libtorrent/aux_/vector.hpp"
+
 namespace libtorrent { namespace aux {
 
 	template <typename Iter>
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/http_tracker_connection.hpp b/include/libtorrent/http_tracker_connection.hpp
index eb84aaea1..7fe09a73e 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/http_tracker_connection.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/http_tracker_connection.hpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include "libtorrent/config.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/peer_id.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/error_code.hpp"
+#include "libtorrent/tracker_manager.hpp" // for tracker_connection
 
 namespace libtorrent {
 
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/announce_flags.hpp b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/announce_flags.hpp
index dc7df5ac6..71f5e0542 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/announce_flags.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/announce_flags.hpp
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #ifndef ANNOUNCE_FLAGS_HPP
 #define ANNOUNCE_FLAGS_HPP
 
+#include <cstdint>
+
 #include "libtorrent/flags.hpp"
 
 namespace libtorrent { namespace dht {
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/observer.hpp b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/observer.hpp
index bcfc5ed08..2ae563719 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/observer.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/observer.hpp
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include <libtorrent/time.hpp>
 #include <libtorrent/address.hpp>
 #include <libtorrent/flags.hpp>
+#include <libtorrent/socket.hpp> // for udp
+#include <libtorrent/kademlia/node_id.hpp>
 
 namespace libtorrent {
 namespace dht {
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/types.hpp b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/types.hpp
index 6e183f7c9..473a17ed5 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/kademlia/types.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/kademlia/types.hpp
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #define LIBTORRENT_TYPES_HPP
 
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <array>
 
 namespace libtorrent { namespace dht {
 
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/linked_list.hpp b/include/libtorrent/linked_list.hpp
index fc870424c..f688652ef 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/linked_list.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/linked_list.hpp
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #ifndef TORRENT_LINKED_LIST_HPP
 #define TORRENT_LINKED_LIST_HPP
 
+#include <type_traits>
+
 #include "libtorrent/assert.hpp"
 
 namespace libtorrent {
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/peer_class_type_filter.hpp b/include/libtorrent/peer_class_type_filter.hpp
index bcf1b92fc..da548e190 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/peer_class_type_filter.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/peer_class_type_filter.hpp
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <array>
 
+#include "aux_/export.hpp"
+#include "peer_class.hpp" // for peer_class_t
+
 namespace libtorrent {
 
 	// ``peer_class_type_filter`` is a simple container for rules for adding and subtracting
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/pex_flags.hpp b/include/libtorrent/pex_flags.hpp
index 03bf4436a..2f32afcce 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/pex_flags.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/pex_flags.hpp
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #ifndef TORRENT_PEX_FLAGS_HPP_INCLUDE
 #define TORRENT_PEX_FLAGS_HPP_INCLUDE
 
+#include <cstdint>
+
 #include "libtorrent/flags.hpp"
 
 namespace libtorrent {
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/torrent_flags.hpp b/include/libtorrent/torrent_flags.hpp
index 5d0723921..1f9783115 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/torrent_flags.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/torrent_flags.hpp
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 #ifndef TORRENT_TORRENT_FLAGS_HPP
 #define TORRENT_TORRENT_FLAGS_HPP
 
+#include <cstdint>
+
 #include "libtorrent/config.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/flags.hpp"