diff --git a/export/planloader/CMakeLists.txt b/export/planloader/CMakeLists.txt
index 563578de..7d9547b9 100644
--- a/export/planloader/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/export/planloader/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-# MEGAHACK -- Given that the compiler options include lots of undesirable stuff in Debug mode, either cleanse it or refuse to build unless we're in release mode.
+if(NOT BUILD_SUBDIR_NAME EQUAL "release")
+  message(SEND_ERROR, "The planloader library does not work in Debug mode due to its dependencies.")
+endif()
 
-add_library(planloader SHARED textplan.cpp)
+add_library(planloader SHARED planloader.cpp)
 add_compile_options(-FPIC)
 set_target_properties(planloader PROPERTIES SUBVERSION 1)
 
 add_dependencies(planloader substrait_io)
 target_link_libraries(planloader substrait_io)
 
-install(TARGETS planloader LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
+install(TARGETS planloader LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} PRIVATE_HEADER DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCDIR})
+
+if(${SUBSTRAIT_CPP_BUILD_TESTING})
+  add_subdirectory(tests)
+endif()
diff --git a/export/planloader/textplan.cpp b/export/planloader/planloader.cpp
similarity index 87%
rename from export/planloader/textplan.cpp
rename to export/planloader/planloader.cpp
index 59653cf8..6c53e760 100644
--- a/export/planloader/textplan.cpp
+++ b/export/planloader/planloader.cpp
@@ -1,21 +1,16 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 */
 
+#include "planloader.h"
+
 #include <substrait/common/Io.h>
 
 extern "C" {
 
-typedef struct {
-  char *buffer;
-  uint32_t size;
-  char *errorMessage;
-} SerializedPlan;
-
 // Load a Substrait plan (in any format) from disk.
 // Stores the Substrait plan in planBuffer in serialized form.
 // Returns a SerializedPlan structure containing either the serialized plan or
-// an error message.
+// an error message.  errorMessage is nullptr upon success.
 SerializedPlan* load_substrait_plan(const char* filename) {
-  // MEGAHACK -- Consider putting this initialization into a separate function.
   auto newPlan = new SerializedPlan();
   newPlan->buffer = nullptr;
   newPlan->size = 0;
@@ -48,7 +43,7 @@ void free_substrait_plan(SerializedPlan* plan) {
 
 // Write a serialized Substrait plan to disk in the specified format.
 // On error returns a non-empty error message.
-// On success an empty string is returned.
+// On success a nullptr is returned.
 const char* save_substrait_plan(
     const char* planData,
     uint32_t planDataLength,
@@ -61,7 +56,7 @@ const char* save_substrait_plan(
   if (!result.ok()) {
     return result.message().data();
   }
-  return "";
+  return nullptr;
 }
 
 }  // extern "C"
diff --git a/export/planloader/planloader.h b/export/planloader/planloader.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ce5fb4ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/export/planloader/planloader.h
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 */
+
+#include <substrait/common/Io.h>
+
+extern "C" {
+
+typedef struct {
+  char *buffer;
+  uint32_t size;
+  char *errorMessage;
+} SerializedPlan;
+
+// Load a Substrait plan (in any format) from disk.
+// Stores the Substrait plan in planBuffer in serialized form.
+// Returns a SerializedPlan structure containing either the serialized plan or
+// an error message.
+SerializedPlan* load_substrait_plan(const char* filename);
+
+void free_substrait_plan(SerializedPlan* plan);
+
+// Write a serialized Substrait plan to disk in the specified format.
+// On error returns a non-empty error message.
+// On success an empty string is returned.
+const char* save_substrait_plan(
+    const char* planData,
+    uint32_t planDataLength,
+    const char* filename,
+    io::substrait::PlanFileFormat format);
+
+}  // extern "C"
diff --git a/export/planloader/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/export/planloader/tests/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1989bf4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/export/planloader/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+cmake_path(GET CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR PARENT_PATH
+        CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_PARENT_DIR)
+cmake_path(GET CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_PARENT_DIR PARENT_PATH
+        CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_TOPLEVEL_DIR)
+
+set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY
+        "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_TOPLEVEL_DIR}/${BUILD_SUBDIR_NAME}")
+
+add_test_case(
+        planloader_test
+        SOURCES
+        PlanLoaderTest.cpp
+        EXTRA_LINK_LIBS
+        planloader
+        gtest
+        gtest_main)
+
+set(TEXTPLAN_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/substrait/textplan")
+
+add_custom_command(
+        TARGET planloader_test
+        POST_BUILD
+        COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E echo "Copying unit test data.."
+        COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E make_directory
+        "${CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/tests/data"
+        COMMAND
+        ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy
+        "${TEXTPLAN_SOURCE_DIR}/converter/data/q6_first_stage.json"
+        "${CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/tests/data/q6_first_stage.json")
+
+message(
+        STATUS "test data will be here:  ${CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}/tests/data")
diff --git a/export/planloader/tests/PlanLoaderTest.cpp b/export/planloader/tests/PlanLoaderTest.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4216bf10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/export/planloader/tests/PlanLoaderTest.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 */
+
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+#include <functional>
+
+#include "../planloader.h"
+#include "substrait/proto/plan.pb.h"
+
+namespace io::substrait::textplan {
+namespace {
+
+TEST(PlanLoaderTest, LoadAndSave) {
+  auto serializedPlan = load_substrait_plan("data/q6_first_stage.json");
+  ASSERT_EQ(serializedPlan->errorMessage, nullptr);
+
+  ::substrait::proto::Plan plan;
+  bool parseStatus =
+      plan.ParseFromArray(serializedPlan->buffer, serializedPlan->size);
+  ASSERT_TRUE(parseStatus) << "Failed to parse the plan.";
+
+  const char* saveStatus = save_substrait_plan(
+      serializedPlan->buffer,
+      serializedPlan->size,
+      "outfile.splan",
+      PlanFileFormat::kText);
+  ASSERT_EQ(saveStatus, nullptr);
+
+  free_substrait_plan(serializedPlan);
+}
+
+} // namespace
+} // namespace io::substrait::textplan