diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b32af570d..1f3ae5e22 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ CFLAGS = -g -O2 -Wall
 OS     = unix
 
 BASIC_CFLAGS := -Isrc
-BASIC_CFLAGS += -DGIT__PRIVATE
 BASIC_CFLAGS += -fvisibility=hidden
 
 OBJS = $(patsubst %.c,%.o,$(wildcard src/*.c))
diff --git a/src/commit.c b/src/commit.c
index 7c982100f..ce02d0ef9 100644
--- a/src/commit.c
+++ b/src/commit.c
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
  * Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
  */
 
-#include "git/commit.h"
+#include "commit.h"
 
 const git_oid *git_commit_id(git_commit *c)
 {
diff --git a/src/commit.h b/src/commit.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c863948af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/commit.h
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#ifndef INCLUDE_commit_h__
+#define INCLUDE_commit_h__
+#include "git/commit.h"
+
+#include <time.h>
+
+struct git_commit {
+	git_oid id;
+	time_t commit_time;
+	unsigned parsed:1,
+	         flags:26;
+};
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/git/commit.h b/src/git/commit.h
index 8cb3e7d4c..a4e23d6af 100644
--- a/src/git/commit.h
+++ b/src/git/commit.h
@@ -40,14 +40,6 @@ GIT_BEGIN_DECL
 
 /** Parsed representation of a commit object. */
 typedef struct git_commit git_commit;
-#ifdef GIT__PRIVATE
-struct git_commit {
-	git_oid id;
-	time_t commit_time;
-	unsigned parsed:1,
-	         flags:26;
-};
-#endif
 
 /**
  * Parse (or lookup) a commit from a revision pool.