diff --git a/libguile/chars.h b/libguile/chars.h
index 97fa0cd95..4d1be1db9 100644
--- a/libguile/chars.h
+++ b/libguile/chars.h
@@ -24,16 +24,11 @@
 
 
 #include "libguile/__scm.h"
+#include "libguile/numbers.h"
 
 
 /* Immediate Characters
  */
-
-#ifndef SCM_WCHAR_DEFINED
-typedef scm_t_int32 scm_t_wchar;
-#define SCM_WCHAR_DEFINED
-#endif
-
 #define SCM_CHARP(x) (SCM_ITAG8(x) == scm_tc8_char)
 #define SCM_CHAR(x) ((scm_t_wchar)SCM_ITAG8_DATA(x))
 
diff --git a/libguile/numbers.h b/libguile/numbers.h
index f30f7d061..bb72d7ac8 100644
--- a/libguile/numbers.h
+++ b/libguile/numbers.h
@@ -174,10 +174,7 @@ typedef struct scm_t_complex
   double imag;
 } scm_t_complex;
 
-#ifndef SCM_WCHAR_DEFINED
 typedef scm_t_int32 scm_t_wchar;
-#define SCM_WCHAR_DEFINED
-#endif