diff --git a/include/etl/reference_counted_message.h b/include/etl/reference_counted_message.h
index 38efed9f..68dca06f 100644
--- a/include/etl/reference_counted_message.h
+++ b/include/etl/reference_counted_message.h
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ namespace etl
   {
   public:
 
+    ETL_STATIC_ASSERT((etl::is_base_of<etl::imessage, TMessage>::value), "Not a message type");
+
     typedef TMessage message_type;
     typedef TCounter counter_type;
 
@@ -134,6 +136,8 @@ namespace etl
   {
   public:
 
+    ETL_STATIC_ASSERT((etl::is_base_of<etl::imessage, TMessage>::value), "Not a message type");
+
     typedef TMessage message_type;
 
     //***************************************************************************