diff --git a/include/greeter.h b/include/greeter.h
index 80846b5..98c30c2 100644
--- a/include/greeter.h
+++ b/include/greeter.h
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 
 #include <string>
 
+#if defined(_WIN32) || defined(WIN32)
+// apparently this is required to use strings in MSVC++
+#  include <sstream>
+#endif
+
 namespace greeter {
 
   enum class LanguageCode { EN, DE, ES, FR };
diff --git a/source/greeter.cpp b/source/greeter.cpp
index f7c02ce..e82699f 100644
--- a/source/greeter.cpp
+++ b/source/greeter.cpp
@@ -1,10 +1,5 @@
 #include <greeter.h>
 
-#if defined(_WIN32) || defined(WIN32)
-// apparently this is required to concat strings
-#  include <sstream>
-#endif
-
 using namespace greeter;
 
 Greeter::Greeter(std::string _name) : name(_name) {}