diff --git a/native/Makefile b/native/Makefile
index 14256df1c..f4178b338 100644
--- a/native/Makefile
+++ b/native/Makefile
@@ -122,12 +122,12 @@ PYTHON_INCLUDE_FLAGS := $(shell $(PYTHON) -c "import sysconfig; paths = sysconfi
 # Pybind11 ABI flags
 PYBIND_FLAGS := $(shell $(PYTHON) -c "import pybind11; print(' '.join([f'-DPYBIND11_COMPILER_TYPE=\\\"{pybind11.get_compiler_type()}\\\"', f'-DPYBIND11_STDLIB=\\\"{pybind11.get_stdlib()}\\\"', f'-DPYBIND11_BUILD_ABI=\\\"{pybind11.get_build_abi()}\\\"']))" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
 
-CXXFLAGS := -std=c++17 -O3 -fPIC -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-unused-variable \
+CXXFLAGS := -std=c++20 -O3 -fPIC -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-unused-variable \
             -DTORCH_API_INCLUDE_EXTENSION_H -DTORCH_EXTENSION_NAME=$(TARGET) \
             $(ABI_FLAG) $(PYBIND_FLAGS) \
             $(TORCH_INCLUDE_FLAGS) $(PYTHON_INCLUDE_FLAGS) $(CUDA_INCLUDE_FLAGS) -Icsrc \
             -MMD -MP
-HOST_CXXFLAGS := -std=c++17 -O3 -fPIC -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-unused-variable \
+HOST_CXXFLAGS := -std=c++20 -O3 -fPIC -Wall -Wextra -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-unused-variable \
                  -DTORCH_API_INCLUDE_EXTENSION_H -DTORCH_EXTENSION_NAME=$(HOST_TARGET) \
                  -DDMI_HOST_ONLY=1 $(ABI_FLAG) $(PYBIND_FLAGS) \
                  $(TORCH_INCLUDE_FLAGS) $(PYTHON_INCLUDE_FLAGS) -Icsrc \
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ HOST_LDFLAGS += -L$(CLICKHOUSE_CONTRIB)/lz4/lz4 -llz4 \
 SM_ARCH ?= native
 
 NVCCFLAGS := \
-    -std=c++17 \
+    -std=c++20 \
     -arch=$(SM_ARCH) \
     -O2 \
     -Xcompiler -fPIC \
@@ -318,12 +318,12 @@ build/conformance_spool: csrc/store/spool.cpp csrc/store/conformance_spool.cpp c
 # PYTHON must point at the venv interpreter:
 #   make build/_dmi_native_sink... PYTHON=/path/to/venv/bin/python
 SINK_EXT := _dmi_native_sink$(shell $(PYTHON) -c "import sysconfig; print(sysconfig.get_config_var('EXT_SUFFIX'))" 2>/dev/null)
-# C++20 for this target only, because ATen demands it and its floor MOVES:
-# torch 2.13 refuses below C++17, torch 2.14 below C++20, and the CI pin
-# `torch>=2.8,<3` resolves to whatever is newest on the day. C++20 satisfies
-# both, and our own sources here compile the same under either. Everything
-# else in this Makefile stays at C++17 -- this is the one target that links
-# against torch.
+# C++20 because ATen demands it and its floor MOVES: torch 2.13 refuses
+# below C++17, torch 2.14 below C++20, and the CI pin `torch>=2.8,<3`
+# resolves to whatever is newest on the day. C++20 is the floor for every
+# target that includes torch's headers -- this sink, the backend and host
+# objects (CXXFLAGS, HOST_CXXFLAGS) and the ring's nvcc compiles (NVCCFLAGS).
+# C++17 stays only on the torch-free drivers.
 build/_dmi_native_sink: csrc/sink/native_pack_sink.cpp csrc/sink/record_row.cpp csrc/sink/pack_sink.cpp csrc/sink/object_key.cpp csrc/sink/bindings_sink.cpp csrc/pack/pack_builder.cpp csrc/store/spool.cpp csrc/common/json.cpp
 	mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)
 	$(CXX) -std=c++20 -O2 -fPIC -shared -DTORCH_EXTENSION_NAME=_dmi_native_sink \
diff --git a/tests/native/ring/Makefile b/tests/native/ring/Makefile
index 9dfeb1222..43d78562e 100644
--- a/tests/native/ring/Makefile
+++ b/tests/native/ring/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 PYTHON   ?= python
 SM_ARCH  ?= native
-CXX_STD  ?= c++17
+# C++20: test_ring_engine, test_record_consumer and
+# test_clickhouse_record_sink include torch's headers, and ATen refuses
+# anything older (torch 2.14's `#error C++20 or later`).
+CXX_STD  ?= c++20
 BUILD    := build
 INCLUDES := -I../../.. -I../../../native/csrc
 
diff --git a/tests/test_cpu_native_build.py b/tests/test_cpu_native_build.py
index e0dfcc01a..c176bbbce 100644
--- a/tests/test_cpu_native_build.py
+++ b/tests/test_cpu_native_build.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import os
 from pathlib import Path
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -29,6 +30,81 @@ def test_host_build_plan_has_no_cuda_toolchain_or_libraries():
         assert forbidden not in output
 
 
+def _torch_include_flags() -> set[str]:
+    """The ``-I`` flags that put torch's headers on a compile's search path."""
+    from torch.utils.cpp_extension import include_paths
+
+    flags = set()
+    for path in include_paths():
+        flags.add(f"-I{path}")
+        flags.add(f"-I{os.path.realpath(path)}")
+    return flags
+
+
+def _torch_compile_lines(makefile_dir: str, target: str) -> list[str]:
+    """The compiler commands a dry run of ``target`` would execute that pull
+    in torch's headers.
+
+    A command is selected by the torch include path on its command line, not
+    by a macro only some recipes define: nvcc's flags never set
+    TORCH_EXTENSION_NAME, so keying on it left every .cu compile unchecked.
+    The flag is matched as a whole token, so the CUDA resolver's stamp
+    record, which carries the same directories inside one quoted string, is
+    not mistaken for a compile.
+    """
+    root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+    result = subprocess.run(
+        # PYTHON is the interpreter running this test: its torch is the one
+        # the build would target, and the Makefile's default `python` need
+        # not exist.
+        ["make", "-C", makefile_dir, "-B", "-n", target, f"PYTHON={sys.executable}"],
+        cwd=root, capture_output=True, text=True, check=False,
+    )
+    if result.returncode != 0:
+        pytest.skip(f"cannot plan `{target}` here: {result.stderr[-300:]}")
+    torch_flags = _torch_include_flags()
+    return [line for line in result.stdout.splitlines()
+            if torch_flags.intersection(line.split())]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(("makefile_dir", "target"), [
+    # host plans on any machine, so CI's cpu job checks it.
+    pytest.param("native", "host", marks=pytest.mark.cpu, id="host"),
+    # The full backend needs the CUDA toolchain even to be PLANNED, which a
+    # cpu runner does not have. It is a gpu test, not a cpu test that skips:
+    # the cpu gate rightly fails any skip that is not absent hardware.
+    pytest.param("native", "all", marks=pytest.mark.gpu, id="all"),
+    # The ring test binaries that link torch compile against the same
+    # headers, from their own Makefile and its own CXX_STD default. They
+    # need the CUDA resolver to be planned, so they are gpu as well.
+    pytest.param("tests/native/ring", "all", marks=pytest.mark.gpu,
+                 id="ring-tests"),
+])
+def test_every_torch_including_compile_requests_cxx20(makefile_dir, target):
+    """PyTorch's headers refuse anything older than C++20.
+
+    ATen.h opens with ``#error C++20 or later compatible compiler is required``,
+    and the pinned range here (torch>=2.8,<3) resolves to a release that
+    enforces it. The backend and host targets were still compiled with
+    -std=c++17, so a fresh install could not build either one -- and CI never
+    noticed, because it only dry-runs `host` and the torch-free drivers never
+    reach ATen. This pins the flag on the plan actually executed rather than on
+    the Makefile's text, so it holds however the flags are assembled, and it
+    covers g++ and nvcc compiles alike.
+
+    Only ``host`` is marked cpu. Planning ``all`` resolves the CUDA toolkit and
+    fails without one, so it runs under the gpu marker instead.
+    """
+    lines = _torch_compile_lines(makefile_dir, target)
+    assert lines, f"no torch-including compile found in the `{target}` plan"
+    stale = [line for line in lines
+             if not any(f"-std={std}" in line
+                        for std in ("c++20", "c++23", "c++26", "gnu++20", "gnu++23"))]
+    assert not stale, (
+        f"{len(stale)} of {len(lines)} torch-including compile(s) below C++20 "
+        f"in `{makefile_dir}` `{target}`:\n" + stale[0][:300])
+
+
 @pytest.mark.cpu
 def test_host_export_falls_back_to_cpu_backend(monkeypatch):
     from dmi.transport import native