diff --git a/include/mapnik/image_util.hpp b/include/mapnik/image_util.hpp
index 28cc532b3..5e534088f 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/image_util.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/image_util.hpp
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 
 // mapnik
 #include <mapnik/config.hpp>
-#include <mapnik/map.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/graphics.hpp>
 
 // boost
@@ -38,8 +37,11 @@
 // stl
 #include <string>
 
+
+
 namespace mapnik {
-    
+
+class Map;    
 class ImageWriterException : public std::exception
 {
 private:
diff --git a/src/image_util.cpp b/src/image_util.cpp
index b40774ab6..9a2ff539e 100644
--- a/src/image_util.cpp
+++ b/src/image_util.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ extern "C"
 #include <mapnik/graphics.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/memory.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/image_view.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/map.hpp>
 
 // jpeg
 #if defined(HAVE_JPEG)