diff --git a/include/pybind11/detail/common.h b/include/pybind11/detail/common.h
index 6da7ef859c..b43100b95a 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/detail/common.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/detail/common.h
@@ -205,10 +205,6 @@
 #    endif
 #endif
 
-#if defined(__cpp_lib_char8_t) && __cpp_lib_char8_t >= 201811L
-#    define PYBIND11_HAS_U8STRING
-#endif
-
 #include <Python.h>
 #if PY_VERSION_HEX < 0x03060000
 #    error "PYTHON < 3.6 IS UNSUPPORTED. pybind11 v2.9 was the last to support Python 2 and 3.5."
@@ -259,6 +255,11 @@
 #    endif
 #endif
 
+// Must be after including <version> or one of the other headers specified by the standard
+#if defined(__cpp_lib_char8_t) && __cpp_lib_char8_t >= 201811L
+#    define PYBIND11_HAS_U8STRING
+#endif
+
 // #define PYBIND11_STR_LEGACY_PERMISSIVE
 // If DEFINED, pybind11::str can hold PyUnicodeObject or PyBytesObject
 //             (probably surprising and never documented, but this was the