diff --git a/src/h5core/h5_private.h b/src/h5core/h5_private.h
index 4910050..b5736ac 100644
--- a/src/h5core/h5_private.h
+++ b/src/h5core/h5_private.h
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 #include "h5_types_private.h"
 #include "h5_errorhandling_private.h"
 
+#define UNUSED_ARGUMENT(x) (void)x
+
 static inline h5_err_t
 check_filehandle (
 	const h5_file_p f
diff --git a/src/include/h5core/h5.h b/src/include/h5core/h5.h
index 61e9910..4a298a2 100644
--- a/src/include/h5core/h5.h
+++ b/src/include/h5core/h5.h
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@
 #include "h5core/h5_types.h"
 #include <hdf5.h>
 
-#define UNUSED_ARGUMENT(x) (void)x
-
 // dummy MPI calls for serial code
 #if !defined (PARALLEL_IO)
 #define MPI_Init(argc, argv)