diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index aaac65c3d..a67bf2595 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ AX_TYPE_SOCKLEN_T
 AC_CHECK_SIZEOF([unsigned int])
 AC_CHECK_SIZEOF([unsigned long])
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([ \
-	fcntl.h io.h direct.h \
+	fcntl.h io.h \
 	sys/types.h sys/socket.h \
 	unistd.h dlfcn.h \
 	netinet/in.h netinet/in_systm.h \
diff --git a/src/openvpn/platform.c b/src/openvpn/platform.c
index 45ee54541..c63c1d994 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/platform.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/platform.c
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@
 
 #include "platform.h"
 
+#if _WIN32
+#include <direct.h>
+#endif
+
 /* Redefine the top level directory of the filesystem
  * to restrict access to files for security */
 void
diff --git a/src/openvpn/syshead.h b/src/openvpn/syshead.h
index 0b029c648..cb9bf7dc7 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/syshead.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/syshead.h
@@ -100,10 +100,6 @@
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #endif
 
-#ifdef HAVE_DIRECT_H
-#include <direct.h>
-#endif
-
 #ifdef HAVE_IO_H
 #include <io.h>
 #endif