diff --git a/core/alien/strings/strings.factor b/core/alien/strings/strings.factor
index c14a8a5cd4..7ea9a0d263 100644
--- a/core/alien/strings/strings.factor
+++ b/core/alien/strings/strings.factor
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ io.encodings io.encodings.ascii io.encodings.utf16n
 io.encodings.utf8 io.streams.memory kernel kernel.private math
 namespaces sequences sequences.private strings strings.private
 system system.private ;
+USE: io.streams.byte-array ! for windows, do not delete!
 IN: alien.strings
 
 GENERIC# alien>string 1 ( c-ptr encoding -- string/f )