diff --git a/src/freedreno/meson.build b/src/freedreno/meson.build
index 350ab3f997d..6f777269325 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/meson.build
+++ b/src/freedreno/meson.build
@@ -52,3 +52,9 @@ endif
 if with_freedreno_vk
   subdir('vulkan')
 endif
+
+test('check-xml-includes',
+  prog_python,
+  args : files('tests/check_xml_includes.py'),
+  suite : ['freedreno'],
+)
diff --git a/src/freedreno/tests/check_xml_includes.awk b/src/freedreno/tests/check_xml_includes.awk
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..6a1dd02e02b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/freedreno/tests/check_xml_includes.awk
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+# Copyright © 2026 Valve Corporation
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+#
+# Check for direct includes of *.xml.h files in freedreno. Only files in the
+# allowed list may include *.xml.h directly. All other files must use wrapper
+# headers (like fd_hw_common.h) instead.
+
+BEGIN {
+    # Allowlist: files permitted to include *.xml.h directly
+    allowed["src/freedreno/common/freedreno_pm4.h"]
+    allowed["src/freedreno/common/fd_hw_common.h"]
+    allowed["src/freedreno/common/fd2_hw.h"]
+    allowed["src/freedreno/common/fd3_hw.h"]
+    allowed["src/freedreno/common/fd4_hw.h"]
+    allowed["src/freedreno/common/fd5_hw.h"]
+    allowed["src/freedreno/common/fd6_hw.h"]
+    allowed["src/freedreno/common/fd6_pack.h"]
+    allowed["src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_cs.h"]
+
+    errors = 0
+}
+
+# Beginning of each file.
+FNR == 1 {
+    # We have to do this here since FILENAME isn't available in BEGIN.
+    if (FILENAME == "-") {
+        print "ERROR: stdin cannot be used with this script" > "/dev/stderr"
+        errors++
+        exit
+    }
+
+    relpath = FILENAME
+    sub(/^.*src\/freedreno\//, "src/freedreno/", relpath)
+    if (relpath in allowed) {
+        nextfile
+    }
+}
+
+# Match #include "something.xml.h"
+/#include[[:space:]]+"[^"]*\.xml\.h"/ {
+    print relpath ":" FNR ": Error: direct include of XML header not allowed"
+    print "  " $0
+    print "  Use fd6_hw.h or another approved wrapper header instead"
+    errors++
+}
+
+END {
+    if (errors > 0) {
+        print "\n" errors " error(s) found"
+        exit 1
+    }
+    print "No errors found"
+    exit 0
+}
diff --git a/src/freedreno/tests/check_xml_includes.py b/src/freedreno/tests/check_xml_includes.py
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..7f21b846fb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/freedreno/tests/check_xml_includes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Copyright © 2026 Valve Corporation
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+import subprocess
+import glob
+import sys
+import os
+import shutil
+
+os.chdir(os.path.dirname(__file__) + "/../../..")
+
+# Meson and other build systems use 77 to skip tests
+SKIP_RETURN_CODE = 77
+if not shutil.which("awk"):
+    print('Skipping test. "awk" not found')
+    sys.exit(SKIP_RETURN_CODE)
+
+files = (
+    glob.glob("src/freedreno/**/*.[ch]", recursive=True)
+    + glob.glob("src/freedreno/**/*.cc", recursive=True)
+    + glob.glob("src/gallium/drivers/freedreno/**/*.[ch]", recursive=True)
+    + glob.glob("src/gallium/drivers/freedreno/**/*.cc", recursive=True)
+)
+
+result = subprocess.run(
+    ["awk", "-f", "src/freedreno/tests/check_xml_includes.awk"] + sorted(files)
+)
+sys.exit(result.returncode)