diff --git a/tools/lib/api/io.h b/tools/lib/api/io.h
index 777c20f6b604..458acd294237 100644
--- a/tools/lib/api/io.h
+++ b/tools/lib/api/io.h
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <linux/types.h>
 
 struct io {
 	/* File descriptor being read/ */