diff --git a/lib/libiw/iwscan.cpp b/lib/libiw/iwscan.cpp
index ab39a56e2..87451e5b1 100644
--- a/lib/libiw/iwscan.cpp
+++ b/lib/libiw/iwscan.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
         Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
 */
 
+/* something is fishy with old compilers: if vector gets included later from
+ * iwscan.h it blows up in the c++config.h libstdc++ header... */
+#if __GNUC__ == 4 && (__GNUC_MINOR__ < 5 || (__GNUC_MINOR__ == 5 && __GNUC_PATCHLEVEL__ < 3))
+#include <vector>
+#endif
+
 #include <sys/time.h>
 extern "C" {
 #include "iwlib.h"              /* Header */