A turbine engine ignition system comprising a spark plug having excitation and return terminals, and a spark plug exciter connected to the excitation terminal. The return terminal is connected to an equipotential reference-forming structure, the exciter device is connected to a command line for a signal to supply an excitation signal to the spark plug. The ignition system comprises a control device comprising current and voltage sensors, a first voltage comparator, a second current comparator, and a microcontroller receiving output from the two comparators. The first comparator compares the voltage sensor signal to a first reference value and the second comparator compares the current sensor signal to a second reference value. The microcontroller generates a signal indicating a malfunction of the ignition system if the current sensor signal is lower than the second reference value while the voltage sensor signal is higher than the first reference value.