diff --git a/src/atlas/io/ArrayAdaptor.cc b/src/atlas/io/ArrayAdaptor.cc
index c8aafbe80..a8493e4d7 100644
--- a/src/atlas/io/ArrayAdaptor.cc
+++ b/src/atlas/io/ArrayAdaptor.cc
@@ -14,12 +14,6 @@
 #include <sstream>
 
 #include "atlas/array/Array.h"
-#include "atlas_io/Data.h"
-#include "atlas_io/Exceptions.h"
-#include "atlas_io/Metadata.h"
-#include "atlas_io/atlas_compat.h"
-#include "atlas_io/detail/Assert.h"
-#include "atlas_io/types/array/ArrayReference.h"
 
 namespace atlas {
 namespace array {
diff --git a/src/atlas/io/ArrayAdaptor.h b/src/atlas/io/ArrayAdaptor.h
index 6a786cbfe..aa330186f 100644
--- a/src/atlas/io/ArrayAdaptor.h
+++ b/src/atlas/io/ArrayAdaptor.h
@@ -10,13 +10,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-namespace atlas {
-namespace io {
-class Metadata;
-class Data;
-class ArrayReference;
-}  // namespace io
-}  // namespace atlas
+#include "atlas-io.h"
 
 namespace atlas {
 namespace array {
diff --git a/src/atlas/io/VectorAdaptor.h b/src/atlas/io/VectorAdaptor.h
index 633a1798d..89900ff9b 100644
--- a/src/atlas/io/VectorAdaptor.h
+++ b/src/atlas/io/VectorAdaptor.h
@@ -12,9 +12,7 @@
 
 #include "atlas/util/vector.h"
 
-#include "atlas_io/Data.h"
-#include "atlas_io/Metadata.h"
-#include "atlas_io/types/array/ArrayReference.h"
+#include "atlas-io.h"
 
 namespace atlas {