diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e82b969410..d7f13d53ca 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -563,6 +563,31 @@ if(AVIF_LIB_USE_CXX OR AVIF_BUILD_APPS OR (AVIF_BUILD_TESTS AND (AVIF_FUZZTEST O
     enable_language(CXX)
     set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
     set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
+    if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
+        include(CheckCXXCompilerFlag)
+        check_cxx_compiler_flag(-Wunsafe-buffer-usage AVIF_HAVE_WUNSAFE_BUFFER_USAGE)
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+# Opt a list of C++ source files into the -Wunsafe-buffer-usage diagnostic
+# (the first step of adopting the Safe Buffers Programming Model). Apply only
+# to .cc files that have been audited to be free of raw pointer arithmetic and
+# raw-pointer indexing; new code added to those files must keep them clean.
+# The libc-call subgroup (Clang 17+) is disabled because it fires on functions
+# such as strdup() that are used in third-party headers (e.g. libargparse) we
+# do not own; our own code avoids those by convention.
+# No-op on toolchains where the flag is not available (Clang < 16, GCC, MSVC).
+function(avif_enable_safe_buffers_warning)
+    if(AVIF_HAVE_WUNSAFE_BUFFER_USAGE)
+        set_source_files_properties(
+            ${ARGN} PROPERTIES COMPILE_OPTIONS
+                               "-Wunsafe-buffer-usage;-Wno-unsafe-buffer-usage-in-libc-call"
+        )
+    endif()
+endfunction()
+
+if(AVIF_ENABLE_COMPLIANCE_WARDEN)
+    avif_enable_safe_buffers_warning(src/compliance.cc)
 endif()
 
 set_target_properties(avif_obj PROPERTIES C_VISIBILITY_PRESET hidden)
@@ -723,6 +748,7 @@ if(AVIF_BUILD_APPS)
         apps/avifgainmaputil/program_command.cc
         apps/avifgainmaputil/swapbase_command.cc
     )
+    avif_enable_safe_buffers_warning(${AVIFGAINMAPUTIL_SRCS})
 
     add_executable(avifgainmaputil "${AVIFGAINMAPUTIL_SRCS}")
     if(WIN32)
diff --git a/apps/avifgainmaputil/avifgainmaputil.cc b/apps/avifgainmaputil/avifgainmaputil.cc
index 25ba16e7ea..dce2f360e6 100644
--- a/apps/avifgainmaputil/avifgainmaputil.cc
+++ b/apps/avifgainmaputil/avifgainmaputil.cc
@@ -91,6 +91,15 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     return 1;
   }
 
+  // -Wunsafe-buffer-usage doesn't know the raw pointer argv is associated with
+  // the bound argc, so it cannot prove these accesses safe. They are bounded
+  // by the argc checks and by the host's contract with main():
+  // argv[0..argc-1] are valid.
+#ifdef __clang__
+#if __has_warning("-Wunsafe-buffer-usage")
+#pragma clang unsafe_buffer_usage begin
+#endif
+#endif
   const std::string command_name(argv[1]);
   if (command_name == "help") {
     if (argc >= 3) {
@@ -129,6 +138,11 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
       }
     }
   }
+#ifdef __clang__
+#if __has_warning("-Wunsafe-buffer-usage")
+#pragma clang unsafe_buffer_usage end
+#endif
+#endif
 
   std::cerr << "Unknown command " << command_name << "\n";
   avif::PrintUsage(commands);
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index bb1199b7c8..9ddffbdf06 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -74,6 +74,36 @@ if(AVIF_GTEST)
     target_link_libraries(avifincrtest_helpers PRIVATE GTest::GTest avif_enable_warnings)
 endif()
 
+# Tests that have been audited for the Safe Buffers Programming Model. Adding
+# a new test to this list requires that the file compiles cleanly under
+# -Wunsafe-buffer-usage. See avif_enable_safe_buffers_warning() in the root
+# CMakeLists.txt.
+if(AVIF_GTEST)
+    avif_enable_safe_buffers_warning(
+        gtest/avifalphapremtest.cc
+        gtest/avifbasictest.cc
+        gtest/avifcicptest.cc
+        gtest/avifclaptest.cc
+        gtest/avifcllitest.cc
+        gtest/avifcodectest.cc
+        gtest/avifcolrtest.cc
+        gtest/avifgridapitest.cc
+        gtest/avifimagetest.cc
+        gtest/avifopaquetest.cc
+        gtest/avifpropinternaltest.cc
+        gtest/avifsampletransformtest.cc
+        gtest/aviftilingtest.cc
+        gtest/avifutilstest.cc
+        gtest/avify4mtest.cc
+    )
+    if(AVIF_CODEC_AVM_ENABLED)
+        avif_enable_safe_buffers_warning(gtest/avifavmtest.cc)
+        if(AVIF_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_MINI)
+            avif_enable_safe_buffers_warning(gtest/avifavmminitest.cc)
+        endif()
+    endif()
+endif()
+
 if(AVIF_GTEST)
     add_avif_gtest_with_data(avif16bittest)
     add_avif_gtest(avifallocationtest)