diff --git a/hw/vfio/helpers.h b/hw/vfio/helpers.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b70f7082562dedff9d97db80d2eecc7ddf71e2af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hw/vfio/helpers.h
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/*
+ * VFIO helpers
+ *
+ * Copyright Red Hat, Inc. 2025
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+ */
+
+#ifndef HW_VFIO_HELPERS_H
+#define HW_VFIO_HELPERS_H
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
+#include <linux/vfio.h>
+
+struct vfio_info_cap_header *
+vfio_get_cap(void *ptr, uint32_t cap_offset, uint16_t id);
+struct vfio_info_cap_header *
+vfio_get_device_info_cap(struct vfio_device_info *info, uint16_t id);
+struct vfio_info_cap_header *
+vfio_get_region_info_cap(struct vfio_region_info *info, uint16_t id);
+
+#endif
+
+int vfio_bitmap_alloc(VFIOBitmap *vbmap, hwaddr size);
+
+#endif /* HW_VFIO_HELPERS_H */
diff --git a/include/hw/vfio/vfio-common.h b/include/hw/vfio/vfio-common.h
index c45a18ab3af7d0b55a41d607a17d93079ae445d7..0fe424633c9cb94195c08d0b62ca4fb8ffccd79c 100644
--- a/include/hw/vfio/vfio-common.h
+++ b/include/hw/vfio/vfio-common.h
@@ -146,17 +146,10 @@ int vfio_get_region_info(VFIODevice *vbasedev, int index,
 int vfio_get_dev_region_info(VFIODevice *vbasedev, uint32_t type,
                              uint32_t subtype, struct vfio_region_info **info);
 bool vfio_has_region_cap(VFIODevice *vbasedev, int region, uint16_t cap_type);
-struct vfio_info_cap_header *
-vfio_get_region_info_cap(struct vfio_region_info *info, uint16_t id);
 bool vfio_get_info_dma_avail(struct vfio_iommu_type1_info *info,
                              unsigned int *avail);
-struct vfio_info_cap_header *
-vfio_get_device_info_cap(struct vfio_device_info *info, uint16_t id);
-struct vfio_info_cap_header *
-vfio_get_cap(void *ptr, uint32_t cap_offset, uint16_t id);
 #endif
 
-int vfio_bitmap_alloc(VFIOBitmap *vbmap, hwaddr size);
 bool vfio_devices_all_dirty_tracking_started(
     const VFIOContainerBase *bcontainer);
 bool
diff --git a/hw/s390x/s390-pci-vfio.c b/hw/s390x/s390-pci-vfio.c
index 88d4c5b3ecc617c5b93ca53cba0850666db3a67b..83c8e84919aecf2a8581205f3de5061aceb20ea8 100644
--- a/hw/s390x/s390-pci-vfio.c
+++ b/hw/s390x/s390-pci-vfio.c
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "hw/s390x/s390-pci-vfio.h"
 #include "hw/vfio/pci.h"
 #include "hw/vfio/vfio-container.h"
+#include "hw/vfio/helpers.h"
 
 /*
  * Get the current DMA available count from vfio.  Returns true if vfio is
diff --git a/hw/vfio/common.c b/hw/vfio/common.c
index 08e2494d7c4a9858657724730b2829290fb3f197..3a20b121fcaf361596bc975437f9a358effc7f88 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/common.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/common.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #include "system/tcg.h"
 #include "system/tpm.h"
 #include "migration.h"
+#include "helpers.h"
 
 VFIODeviceList vfio_device_list =
     QLIST_HEAD_INITIALIZER(vfio_device_list);
diff --git a/hw/vfio/container.c b/hw/vfio/container.c
index 9aa9f6931f591211e46f57029df2ca194f9c3eaf..a6f7359faefc02b01ca05f76b4c1f8a9934a9091 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/container.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/container.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "pci.h"
 #include "hw/vfio/vfio-container.h"
+#include "helpers.h"
 
 #define TYPE_HOST_IOMMU_DEVICE_LEGACY_VFIO TYPE_HOST_IOMMU_DEVICE "-legacy-vfio"
 
diff --git a/hw/vfio/helpers.c b/hw/vfio/helpers.c
index 89403943a7a219e491b6812d50b27b7f1fd7b4a4..9d635c18156d3271bad824b74fbc5b6f1f810a95 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/helpers.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/helpers.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "qemu/units.h"
 #include "monitor/monitor.h"
+#include "helpers.h"
 
 /*
  * Common VFIO interrupt disable
diff --git a/hw/vfio/pci.c b/hw/vfio/pci.c
index 6bf5a4dc720f717b2593b1b272927a13f2932d27..c0d314265836759beaf65afd85153b465179ecce 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/pci.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/pci.c
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 #include "system/iommufd.h"
 #include "migration.h"
 #include "hw/vfio/vfio-region.h"
+#include "helpers.h"
 
 #define TYPE_VFIO_PCI_NOHOTPLUG "vfio-pci-nohotplug"
 
diff --git a/hw/vfio/region.c b/hw/vfio/region.c
index 3e174c3dcb0b699fd0cee00d104250d8ae97f698..87bf5e046a432dfedf3be3c1c7e8f33e006da004 100644
--- a/hw/vfio/region.c
+++ b/hw/vfio/region.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "qemu/error-report.h"
 #include "qemu/units.h"
 #include "monitor/monitor.h"
+#include "helpers.h"
 
 /*
  * IO Port/MMIO - Beware of the endians, VFIO is always little endian
