diff --git a/scripts/tracetool/backend/simple.py b/scripts/tracetool/backend/simple.py
index 37ef599324..30faac93c8 100644
--- a/scripts/tracetool/backend/simple.py
+++ b/scripts/tracetool/backend/simple.py
@@ -93,9 +93,6 @@ def c(events):
 
 
 def h(events):
-    out('#include "trace/simple.h"',
-        '')
-
     for event in events:
         out('void trace_%(name)s(%(args)s);',
             name = event.name,
diff --git a/trace/simple.c b/trace/simple.c
index 1e3f6914c5..410172ea6a 100644
--- a/trace/simple.c
+++ b/trace/simple.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "qemu/timer.h"
 #include "trace.h"
 #include "trace/control.h"
+#include "trace/simple.h"
 
 /** Trace file header event ID */
 #define HEADER_EVENT_ID (~(uint64_t)0) /* avoids conflicting with TraceEventIDs */