diff --git a/src/include/h5core/h5_core.h b/src/include/h5core/h5_core.h
index 5cce786..cae7dc5 100644
--- a/src/include/h5core/h5_core.h
+++ b/src/include/h5core/h5_core.h
@@ -142,6 +142,12 @@ done:									\
 }
 #endif
 
+#include <hdf5.h>
+#if defined(H5_HAVE_PARALLEL)
+#define PARALLEL_IO 1
+#endif
+
+
 #if defined(PARALLEL_IO)
 #include <mpi.h>
 #endif