diff --git a/include/realtime_tools/realtime_helpers.hpp b/include/realtime_tools/realtime_helpers.hpp
index ef486a49..3a631976 100644
--- a/include/realtime_tools/realtime_helpers.hpp
+++ b/include/realtime_tools/realtime_helpers.hpp
@@ -35,8 +35,11 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
-#include <windows.h>
-using NATIVE_THREAD_HANDLE = HANDLE;
+// Here we directly use void* instead of including windows.h
+// and using HANDLE macro to avoid polluting all the downstream
+// compilation units that include the public header realtime_helpers.hpp
+// with problematic macros like MIN, MAX or ERROR
+using NATIVE_THREAD_HANDLE = void *;
 #else
 using NATIVE_THREAD_HANDLE = pthread_t;
 #endif
diff --git a/src/realtime_helpers.cpp b/src/realtime_helpers.cpp
index e55894ce..bbabf0bc 100644
--- a/src/realtime_helpers.cpp
+++ b/src/realtime_helpers.cpp
@@ -28,7 +28,9 @@
 
 #include "realtime_tools/realtime_helpers.hpp"
 
-#if defined(__unix__) || (defined(__APPLE__) && defined(__MACH__))
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include <windows.h>
+#else
 #include <sched.h>
 #include <sys/capability.h>
 #include <sys/mman.h>