diff --git a/include/rdma/ib_verbs.h b/include/rdma/ib_verbs.h
index 0bfa3328d686ccdac7cd383e8abac4063a90e5f6..73aafd7bb503778a063bf812fb8d7e7526b7cdda 100644
--- a/include/rdma/ib_verbs.h
+++ b/include/rdma/ib_verbs.h
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 #include <linux/device.h>
 #include <linux/mm.h>
 #include <linux/dma-mapping.h>
+#include <linux/kref.h>
 
 #include <asm/atomic.h>
 #include <asm/scatterlist.h>