diff --git a/Coder.Test/Languages/CppGeneratedSourceCompilesTests.cs b/Coder.Test/Languages/CppGeneratedSourceCompilesTests.cs
index 3de0193..95daef9 100644
--- a/Coder.Test/Languages/CppGeneratedSourceCompilesTests.cs
+++ b/Coder.Test/Languages/CppGeneratedSourceCompilesTests.cs
@@ -88,6 +88,46 @@ public void AnArrayDeclarationCompilesWhereverAnUnboundedOneMayStand()
 		});
 	}
 
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Tests that a class's mutable static fields compile, with and without an initialiser.
+	/// </summary>
+	/// <remarks>
+	/// ISO C++ forbids an in-class initialiser on a non-const static data member, and the generator
+	/// writes one on every field — the value it was given, or <c>{}</c> when it was given none. Only
+	/// <c>inline static</c> lets both stand inside the class.
+	/// </remarks>
+	[TestMethod]
+	public void AMutableStaticFieldCompilesInsideAClass()
+	{
+		string? compiler = ToolchainHarness.FindOnPath("--version", Compilers);
+		if (compiler is null)
+		{
+			Assert.Inconclusive("No C++ compiler on the path, so nothing was compiled.");
+			return;
+		}
+
+		SourceFile file = new("statics") { IsHeader = true };
+		ClassDeclaration config = new("Cfg") { Kind = TypeDeclarationKind.Struct };
+		config.Members.Add(new FieldDeclaration("count", "int") { IsStatic = true, InitialValue = new LiteralExpression<int>(0) });
+		config.Members.Add(new FieldDeclaration("limit", "int") { IsStatic = true });
+		file.Members.Add(config);
+
+		ToolchainHarness.InTemporaryDirectory(directory =>
+		{
+			File.WriteAllText(Path.Combine(directory, "statics.h"), new CppGenerator().Generate(file));
+			File.WriteAllText(
+				Path.Combine(directory, "driver.cpp"),
+				"#include \"statics.h\"\n\nint main()\n{\n\tCfg::count = Cfg::limit + 1;\n\treturn Cfg::count * 0;\n}\n");
+
+			(int exitCode, string output) = ToolchainHarness.Run(
+				compiler,
+				"-std=c++20 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic -c driver.cpp -o driver.o",
+				directory);
+
+			Assert.AreEqual(0, exitCode, $"{compiler} rejected the generated header:{Environment.NewLine}{output}");
+		});
+	}
+
 	/// <summary>
 	/// Builds a header declaring an array in each position one with no bound may stand in.
 	/// </summary>
diff --git a/Coder/Languages/CppGenerator.cs b/Coder/Languages/CppGenerator.cs
index 1fb8d7e..21b4d98 100644
--- a/Coder/Languages/CppGenerator.cs
+++ b/Coder/Languages/CppGenerator.cs
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ public class CppGenerator : CFamilyGenerator
 	/// </summary>
 	/// <remarks>
 	/// A depth rather than a flag, so a type declared inside a type leaves the count right when it
-	/// closes. The one thing it decides is whether a constant field says <c>inline</c> or
-	/// <c>static</c>; see <see cref="SpellStorage"/>.
+	/// closes. What it decides is how a constant or static field spells its storage; see
+	/// <see cref="SpellStorage"/>.
 	/// </remarks>
 	private int insideType;
 
@@ -794,7 +794,14 @@ private string SpellStorage(FieldDeclaration field)
 			return insideType > 0 ? "static constexpr " : "inline constexpr ";
 		}
 
-		return field.IsStatic ? "static " : string.Empty;
+		// A non-const static data member may only carry an in-class initialiser when it is inline,
+		// and every field is written with one, so inside a type the plain keyword never compiles.
+		if (field.IsStatic)
+		{
+			return insideType > 0 ? "inline static " : "static ";
+		}
+
+		return string.Empty;
 	}
 
 	/// <summary>