diff --git a/include/grpc/support/port_platform.h b/include/grpc/support/port_platform.h
index 04751ae8273..855cf158587 100644
--- a/include/grpc/support/port_platform.h
+++ b/include/grpc/support/port_platform.h
@@ -747,6 +747,7 @@ extern void gpr_unreachable_code(const char* reason, const char* file,
 #endif /* GPR_ATTRIBUTE_NOINLINE */
 
 #ifndef GPR_ATTRIBUTE_ALWAYS_INLINE_FUNCTION
+#ifdef __cplusplus
 #if GPR_HAS_CPP_ATTRIBUTE(clang::always_inline)
 #define GPR_ATTRIBUTE_ALWAYS_INLINE_FUNCTION [[clang::always_inline]]
 #elif GPR_HAS_ATTRIBUTE(always_inline)
@@ -755,6 +756,10 @@ extern void gpr_unreachable_code(const char* reason, const char* file,
 // TODO(ctiller): add __forceinline for MSVC
 #define GPR_ATTRIBUTE_ALWAYS_INLINE_FUNCTION
 #endif
+#else
+// Disable for C code
+#define GPR_ATTRIBUTE_ALWAYS_INLINE_FUNCTION
+#endif
 #endif /* GPR_ATTRIBUTE_ALWAYS_INLINE_FUNCTION */
 
 #ifndef GPR_NO_UNIQUE_ADDRESS