diff --git a/internals/plan/export_test.go b/internals/plan/export_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9da16930
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internals/plan/export_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2024 Canonical Ltd
+//
+// This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 as
+// published by the Free Software Foundation.
+//
+// This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+package plan
+
+var LayerBuiltins = layerBuiltins
diff --git a/internals/plan/plan.go b/internals/plan/plan.go
index ddb90fdf..1787b1eb 100644
--- a/internals/plan/plan.go
+++ b/internals/plan/plan.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
 	"regexp"
+	"slices"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -70,11 +71,15 @@ const (
 // layerExtensions keeps a map of registered extensions.
 var layerExtensions = map[string]LayerSectionExtension{}
 
+// layerBuiltins represents all the built-in layer sections. This list is used
+// for identifying built-in fields in this package. It is unit tested to match
+// the YAML fields exposed in the Layer type, to catch inconsistencies.
+var layerBuiltins = []string{"summary", "description", "services", "checks", "log-targets"}
+
 // RegisterExtension adds a plan schema extension. All registrations must be
 // done before the plan library is used.
 func RegisterExtension(field string, ext LayerSectionExtension) {
-	switch field {
-	case "summary", "description", "services", "checks", "log-targets":
+	if slices.Contains(layerBuiltins, field) {
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("internal error: extension %q already used as built-in field", field))
 	}
 	if _, ok := layerExtensions[field]; ok {
@@ -1226,6 +1231,11 @@ func ParseLayer(order int, label string, data []byte) (*Layer, error) {
 		"checks":      &layer.Checks,
 		"log-targets": &layer.LogTargets,
 	}
+	// Make sure builtinSections contains the exact same fields as expected
+	// in the Layer type.
+	if !mapHasKeys(builtinSections, layerBuiltins) {
+		panic("internal error: parsed fields and layer fields differ")
+	}
 
 	layerSections := make(map[string]yaml.Node)
 	// Deliberately pre-allocate at least an empty yaml.Node for every
@@ -1245,7 +1255,7 @@ func ParseLayer(order int, label string, data []byte) (*Layer, error) {
 	}
 
 	for field, section := range layerSections {
-		if _, builtin := builtinSections[field]; builtin {
+		if slices.Contains(layerBuiltins, field) {
 			// The following issue prevents us from using the yaml.Node decoder
 			// with KnownFields = true behaviour. Once one of the proposals get
 			// merged, we can remove the intermediate Marshal step.
@@ -1312,6 +1322,20 @@ func ParseLayer(order int, label string, data []byte) (*Layer, error) {
 	return layer, err
 }
 
+// mapHasKeys returns true if the key list supplied is an exact match of the
+// keys in the map (ordering is ignored).
+func mapHasKeys[M ~map[K]V, K comparable, V any](inMap M, keyList []K) bool {
+	if len(inMap) != len(keyList) {
+		return false
+	}
+	for _, key := range keyList {
+		if _, ok := inMap[key]; !ok {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 func validServiceAction(action ServiceAction, additionalValid ...ServiceAction) bool {
 	for _, v := range additionalValid {
 		if action == v {
diff --git a/internals/plan/plan_test.go b/internals/plan/plan_test.go
index fbc1fb96..4e119e2c 100644
--- a/internals/plan/plan_test.go
+++ b/internals/plan/plan_test.go
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"reflect"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
+	"unicode"
 
 	. "gopkg.in/check.v1"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
@@ -2068,3 +2071,41 @@ func (s *S) TestStartStopOrderMultipleLanes(c *C) {
 	c.Assert(lanes[1], DeepEquals, []string{"srv2"})
 	c.Assert(lanes[2], DeepEquals, []string{"srv3"})
 }
+
+// TestLayerBuiltinCompatible ensures layerBuiltins used in the plan package
+// reflects the same YAML fields as exposed in the Layer type.
+func (s *S) TestLayerBuiltinCompatible(c *C) {
+	fields := structYamlFields(plan.Layer{})
+	c.Assert(len(fields), Equals, len(plan.LayerBuiltins))
+	for _, field := range structYamlFields(plan.Layer{}) {
+		c.Assert(slices.Contains(plan.LayerBuiltins, field), Equals, true)
+	}
+}
+
+// structYamlFields extracts the YAML fields from a struct. If the YAML tag
+// is omitted, the field name with the first letter lower case will be used.
+func structYamlFields(inStruct any) []string {
+	var fields []string
+	inStructType := reflect.TypeOf(inStruct)
+	for i := range inStructType.NumField() {
+		fieldType := inStructType.Field(i)
+		yamlTag := fieldType.Tag.Get("yaml")
+		if fieldType.IsExported() && yamlTag != "-" && !strings.Contains(yamlTag, ",inline") {
+			tag, _, _ := strings.Cut(fieldType.Tag.Get("yaml"), ",")
+			if tag == "" {
+				tag = firstLetterToLower(fieldType.Name)
+			}
+			fields = append(fields, tag)
+		}
+	}
+	return fields
+}
+
+func firstLetterToLower(s string) string {
+	if len(s) == 0 {
+		return s
+	}
+	r := []rune(s)
+	r[0] = unicode.ToLower(r[0])
+	return string(r)
+}