diff --git a/Lib/std/std_basic_string.i b/Lib/std/std_basic_string.i
index b42aa375c..2dc3cdb4b 100644
--- a/Lib/std/std_basic_string.i
+++ b/Lib/std/std_basic_string.i
@@ -8,9 +8,6 @@
 #include <string>
 %}
 
-#ifdef SWIG_EXPORT_ITERATOR_METHODS
-#endif
-
 
 namespace std {
 
@@ -34,6 +31,14 @@ namespace std {
     
     static const size_type npos;
 
+#ifdef SWIG_EXPORT_ITERATOR_METHODS
+  class iterator;
+  class reverse_iterator;
+  class const_iterator;
+  class const_reverse_iterator;
+#endif
+
+
     %traits_swigtype(_CharT);
     %fragment(SWIG_Traits_frag(_CharT));