diff --git a/src/core/varlink-common.h b/src/core/varlink-common.h
index 5456bfced6..45b47cb661 100644
--- a/src/core/varlink-common.h
+++ b/src/core/varlink-common.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later */
 #pragma once
 
-#include "sd-json.h"
+#include "forward.h"
 
 int rlimit_build_json(sd_json_variant **ret, const char *name, void *userdata);
 int rlimit_table_build_json(sd_json_variant **ret, const char *name, void *userdata);
diff --git a/src/core/varlink-unit.h b/src/core/varlink-unit.h
index 28748f7461..074ed651eb 100644
--- a/src/core/varlink-unit.h
+++ b/src/core/varlink-unit.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later */
 #pragma once
 
-#include "sd-varlink.h"
+#include "forward.h"
 
 #define VARLINK_ERROR_UNIT_NO_SUCH_UNIT "io.systemd.Unit.NoSuchUnit"