diff --git a/include/zephyr/sys/util.h b/include/zephyr/sys/util.h
index 62c6391e4d659d1..2db9595abde1efe 100644
--- a/include/zephyr/sys/util.h
+++ b/include/zephyr/sys/util.h
@@ -627,3 +627,6 @@ char *utf8_lcpy(char *dst, const char *src, size_t n);
  */
 
 #endif /* ZEPHYR_INCLUDE_SYS_UTIL_H_ */
+
+/* This include must be added at the end of the file to avoid a circular dependency */
+#include <zephyr/kernel.h>