diff --git a/common/strings.cpp b/common/strings.cpp
index f028e982b..52990aa85 100644
--- a/common/strings.cpp
+++ b/common/strings.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <iostream>
+#include <sstream>
 
 #include <random>
 #include <string>
@@ -50,6 +51,12 @@
 #include "strings_legacy.cpp" // legacy c functions
 #include "strings_misc.cpp" // anything non "Strings" scoped
 
+#ifdef _WINDOWS
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <functional>
+#include <algorithm>
+#endif
+
 std::string Strings::Random(size_t length)
 {
 	static auto &chrs = "0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
diff --git a/common/strings.h b/common/strings.h
index a43e927e3..8ae8fee25 100644
--- a/common/strings.h
+++ b/common/strings.h
@@ -36,22 +36,15 @@
 #define _STRINGUTIL_H_
 
 #include <charconv>
-#include <sstream>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <string_view>
+#include <string>
 #include <vector>
 #include <cstdarg>
 #include <type_traits>
 
-#ifndef _WIN32
-// this doesn't appear to affect linux-based systems..need feedback for _WIN64
-
-#endif
-
-#ifdef _WINDOWS
+#ifdef _WIN32
 #include <ctype.h>
-#include <functional>
-#include <algorithm>
 #endif
 
 #include "types.h"