diff --git a/tools/lib/api/io.h b/tools/lib/api/io.h
index a77b74c5fb65..2a7fe9758813 100644
--- a/tools/lib/api/io.h
+++ b/tools/lib/api/io.h
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <linux/types.h>
 
 struct io {
 	/* File descriptor being read/ */