diff --git a/sys/include/net/netstats/neighbor.h b/sys/include/net/netstats/neighbor.h
index 35c3c2d1f6..923af66eba 100644
--- a/sys/include/net/netstats/neighbor.h
+++ b/sys/include/net/netstats/neighbor.h
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 
 #include <string.h>
 #include "net/netif.h"
-#include "xtimer.h"
 #include "timex.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
diff --git a/sys/net/netstats/netstats_neighbor.c b/sys/net/netstats/netstats_neighbor.c
index 2c95b6ddba..8b87980499 100644
--- a/sys/net/netstats/netstats_neighbor.c
+++ b/sys/net/netstats/netstats_neighbor.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "net/l2util.h"
 #include "net/netdev.h"
 #include "net/netstats/neighbor.h"
+#include "xtimer.h"
 
 #define ENABLE_DEBUG 0
 #include "debug.h"