diff --git a/cpp/include/gar/util/filesystem.h b/cpp/include/gar/util/filesystem.h
index 364ef11cd..6893745de 100644
--- a/cpp/include/gar/util/filesystem.h
+++ b/cpp/include/gar/util/filesystem.h
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ limitations under the License.
 #include "gar/util/status.h"
 #include "gar/util/util.h"
 
-#include "arrow/dataset/api.h"
 #include "gar/util/reader_util.h"
 
 // forward declarations
@@ -39,6 +38,9 @@ class FileSystem;
 namespace io {
 class RandomAccessFile;
 }
+namespace dataset {
+class FileFormat;
+}
 }  // namespace arrow
 
 namespace GAR_NAMESPACE_INTERNAL {
diff --git a/cpp/include/gar/util/reader_util.h b/cpp/include/gar/util/reader_util.h
index ce0ef5b5a..bf5e223c8 100644
--- a/cpp/include/gar/util/reader_util.h
+++ b/cpp/include/gar/util/reader_util.h
@@ -22,10 +22,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 #include <vector>
 
 #include "gar/graph_info.h"
-#include "gar/util/expression.h"
 
 namespace GAR_NAMESPACE_INTERNAL {
 
+class Expression;
+
 namespace util {
 
 using Filter = std::shared_ptr<Expression>;
diff --git a/cpp/src/filesystem.cc b/cpp/src/filesystem.cc
index 2579ba714..15d29415d 100644
--- a/cpp/src/filesystem.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/filesystem.cc
@@ -16,10 +16,12 @@ limitations under the License.
 #include "arrow/adapters/orc/adapter.h"
 #include "arrow/api.h"
 #include "arrow/csv/api.h"
+#include "arrow/dataset/api.h"
 #include "arrow/filesystem/api.h"
 #include "arrow/ipc/writer.h"
 #include "parquet/arrow/writer.h"
 
+#include "gar/util/expression.h"
 #include "gar/util/filesystem.h"
 
 namespace GAR_NAMESPACE_INTERNAL {
diff --git a/cpp/src/reader_util.cc b/cpp/src/reader_util.cc
index fec5ef4ca..1bd996326 100644
--- a/cpp/src/reader_util.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/reader_util.cc
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 #include "parquet/arrow/reader.h"
 
 #include "gar/graph_info.h"
+#include "gar/util/expression.h"
 #include "gar/util/filesystem.h"
 #include "gar/util/reader_util.h"
 
diff --git a/cpp/test/test_arrow_chunk_reader.cc b/cpp/test/test_arrow_chunk_reader.cc
index e4a47f732..b47ef773e 100644
--- a/cpp/test/test_arrow_chunk_reader.cc
+++ b/cpp/test/test_arrow_chunk_reader.cc
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 #include "./util.h"
 #include "gar/reader/arrow_chunk_reader.h"
+#include "gar/util/expression.h"
 
 #define CATCH_CONFIG_MAIN
 #include <catch2/catch.hpp>