diff --git a/src/node.cc b/src/node.cc
index 0fb925d648..bfb481e75e 100644
--- a/src/node.cc
+++ b/src/node.cc
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
-#include <strings.h>
 #include <limits.h> /* PATH_MAX */
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -14,6 +13,12 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <unistd.h> /* setuid, getuid */
 
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <node_buffer.h>
 #include <node_io_watcher.h>
 #include <node_net2.h>
diff --git a/src/node_buffer.cc b/src/node_buffer.cc
index d757b9623c..bae738bf63 100644
--- a/src/node_buffer.cc
+++ b/src/node_buffer.cc
@@ -4,7 +4,13 @@
 #include <stdlib.h> // malloc, free
 #include <v8.h>
 
-#include <string.h> // memcpy
+// memcpy
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
+
 
 #include <arpa/inet.h>  // htons, htonl
 
diff --git a/src/node_child_process.cc b/src/node_child_process.cc
index 6c84514e14..d240d6fbf7 100644
--- a/src/node_child_process.cc
+++ b/src/node_child_process.cc
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 #include <node.h>
 
 #include <assert.h>
-#include <string.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -13,6 +12,12 @@
 #include <sys/wait.h>
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
+
 extern char **environ;
 
 namespace node {
diff --git a/src/node_crypto.cc b/src/node_crypto.cc
index 284ae4996d..50519b4279 100644
--- a/src/node_crypto.cc
+++ b/src/node_crypto.cc
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@
 #include <node.h>
 #include <node_buffer.h>
 
-#include <string.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
 #include <errno.h>
diff --git a/src/node_events.cc b/src/node_events.cc
index c43225a528..4148ea010f 100644
--- a/src/node_events.cc
+++ b/src/node_events.cc
@@ -3,14 +3,18 @@
 
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
-#include <string.h>
-#include <strings.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <netdb.h>
 #include <arpa/inet.h> /* inet_ntop */
 #include <netinet/in.h> /* sockaddr_in, sockaddr_in6 */
 
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <node.h>
 #include <ev.h>
 #include <v8.h>
diff --git a/src/node_file.cc b/src/node_file.cc
index f9fd27c122..b1cbd9b044 100644
--- a/src/node_file.cc
+++ b/src/node_file.cc
@@ -10,10 +10,15 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <assert.h>
-#include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <limits.h>
 
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
+
 /* used for readlink, AIX doesn't provide it */
 #ifndef PATH_MAX
 #define PATH_MAX 4096
diff --git a/src/node_net2.cc b/src/node_net2.cc
index 865bf7c506..d9d485ce7a 100644
--- a/src/node_net2.cc
+++ b/src/node_net2.cc
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@
 #include <node.h>
 #include <node_buffer.h>
 
-#include <string.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
diff --git a/src/node_stat_watcher.cc b/src/node_stat_watcher.cc
index 88ae9c6940..816ec961ca 100644
--- a/src/node_stat_watcher.cc
+++ b/src/node_stat_watcher.cc
@@ -2,8 +2,12 @@
 #include <node_stat_watcher.h>
 
 #include <assert.h>
-#include <string.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
 
 namespace node {
 
diff --git a/src/node_stdio.cc b/src/node_stdio.cc
index c27e6f3726..fab00aeeac 100644
--- a/src/node_stdio.cc
+++ b/src/node_stdio.cc
@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@
 
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
-#include <string.h>
+#ifdef HAVE_STRINGS_H
+# include <strings.h>
+#else
+# include <string.h>
+#endif
 #include <errno.h>
 
 using namespace v8;
diff --git a/wscript b/wscript
index fb632a67da..fab15b235f 100644
--- a/wscript
+++ b/wscript
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ def configure(conf):
   conf.env["USE_DEBUG"] = Options.options.debug
   conf.env["USE_SYSTEM"] = Options.options.system
 
+  conf.check_cc(header_name="strings.h")
+
   conf.check(lib='dl', uselib_store='DL')
   if not sys.platform.startswith("sunos"):
     conf.env.append_value("CCFLAGS", "-rdynamic")