diff --git a/include/libweston/libweston.h b/include/libweston/libweston.h
index d4d95b5c..748386d4 100644
--- a/include/libweston/libweston.h
+++ b/include/libweston/libweston.h
@@ -2039,18 +2039,6 @@ weston_surface_copy_content(struct weston_surface *surface,
 struct weston_buffer *
 weston_buffer_from_resource(struct wl_resource *resource);
 
-void
-weston_buffer_reference(struct weston_buffer_reference *ref,
-			struct weston_buffer *buffer);
-
-void
-weston_buffer_release_reference(struct weston_buffer_release_reference *ref,
-				struct weston_buffer_release *buf_release);
-
-void
-weston_buffer_release_move(struct weston_buffer_release_reference *dest,
-			   struct weston_buffer_release_reference *src);
-
 void
 weston_compositor_get_time(struct timespec *time);
 
@@ -2456,10 +2444,6 @@ weston_log_ctx_compositor_setup(struct weston_compositor *compositor,
 void
 weston_log_ctx_compositor_destroy(struct weston_compositor *compositor);
 
-void
-weston_buffer_send_server_error(struct weston_buffer *buffer,
-				      const char *msg);
-
 int
 weston_compositor_enable_content_protection(struct weston_compositor *compositor);
 
diff --git a/libweston/backend-drm/drm-internal.h b/libweston/backend-drm/drm-internal.h
index 29b3a91a..403ae2d2 100644
--- a/libweston/backend-drm/drm-internal.h
+++ b/libweston/backend-drm/drm-internal.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
 #include <libweston/weston-debug.h>
 #include "shared/helpers.h"
 #include "libinput-seat.h"
+#include "libweston-internal.h"
 
 #ifndef DRM_CLIENT_CAP_ASPECT_RATIO
 #define DRM_CLIENT_CAP_ASPECT_RATIO	4
diff --git a/libweston/compositor.c b/libweston/compositor.c
index 848ae4e6..444b4064 100644
--- a/libweston/compositor.c
+++ b/libweston/compositor.c
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@
 #include <libweston/version.h>
 #include <libweston/plugin-registry.h>
 #include "pixel-formats.h"
+#include "libweston-internal.h"
 
 /**
  * \defgroup head Head
diff --git a/libweston/libweston-internal.h b/libweston/libweston-internal.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b4a9737b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libweston/libweston-internal.h
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright © 2008-2011 Kristian Høgsberg
+ * Copyright © 2017, 2018 General Electric Company
+ * Copyright © 2012, 2017-2019 Collabora, Ltd.
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+ * a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+ * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+ * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+ * distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+ * permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+ * the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice (including the
+ * next paragraph) shall be included in all copies or substantial
+ * portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
+ * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+ * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
+ * NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
+ * BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
+ * ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
+ * CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+ * SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+#ifndef LIBWESTON_INTERNAL_H
+#define LIBWESTON_INTERNAL_H
+
+/*
+ * This is the internal (private) part of libweston. All symbols found here
+ * are, and should be only (with a few exceptions) used within the internal
+ * parts of libweston.  Notable exception(s) include a few files in tests/ that
+ * need access to these functions, screen-share file from compositor/ and those
+ * remoting/. Those will require some further fixing as to avoid including this
+ * private header.
+ *
+ * Eventually, these symbols should reside naturally into their own scope. New
+ * features should either provide their own (internal) header or use this one.
+ */
+
+
+/* weston_buffer */
+
+void
+weston_buffer_send_server_error(struct weston_buffer *buffer,
+				const char *msg);
+void
+weston_buffer_reference(struct weston_buffer_reference *ref,
+			struct weston_buffer *buffer);
+
+void
+weston_buffer_release_move(struct weston_buffer_release_reference *dest,
+			   struct weston_buffer_release_reference *src);
+
+void
+weston_buffer_release_reference(struct weston_buffer_release_reference *ref,
+				struct weston_buffer_release *buf_release);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/libweston/linux-explicit-synchronization.c b/libweston/linux-explicit-synchronization.c
index 220cdde5..f93a5d60 100644
--- a/libweston/linux-explicit-synchronization.c
+++ b/libweston/linux-explicit-synchronization.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "linux-explicit-synchronization-unstable-v1-server-protocol.h"
 #include "linux-sync-file.h"
 #include "shared/fd-util.h"
+#include "libweston-internal.h"
 
 static void
 destroy_linux_buffer_release(struct wl_resource *resource)
diff --git a/libweston/pixman-renderer.h b/libweston/pixman-renderer.h
index 83a43010..07571a1d 100644
--- a/libweston/pixman-renderer.h
+++ b/libweston/pixman-renderer.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include "config.h"
 
 #include <libweston/libweston.h>
+#include "libweston-internal.h"
 
 int
 pixman_renderer_init(struct weston_compositor *ec);
diff --git a/libweston/renderer-gl/gl-renderer.h b/libweston/renderer-gl/gl-renderer.h
index 24af9256..7067c8f5 100644
--- a/libweston/renderer-gl/gl-renderer.h
+++ b/libweston/renderer-gl/gl-renderer.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <stdint.h>
 
 #include <libweston/libweston.h>
+#include "libweston-internal.h"
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_EGL