diff --git a/ext/date/date_parse.c b/ext/date/date_parse.c
index 950bfc0..e3d3cc3 100644
--- a/ext/date/date_parse.c
+++ b/ext/date/date_parse.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "ruby.h"
 #include "ruby/encoding.h"
 #include "ruby/re.h"
+#include "ruby/util.h"
 
 #ifndef HAVE_RB_LEN_T
 typedef long rb_len_t;
@@ -17,8 +18,12 @@ typedef long rb_len_t;
 #undef strncasecmp
 #define strncasecmp STRNCASECMP
 
+#ifndef HAVE_RB_INT_POSITIVE_POW
 RUBY_EXTERN VALUE rb_int_positive_pow(long x, unsigned long y);
+#endif
+#ifndef HAVE_RUBY_SCAN_DIGITS
 RUBY_EXTERN unsigned long ruby_scan_digits(const char *str, ssize_t len, int base, size_t *retlen, int *overflow);
+#endif
 
 /* #define TIGHT_PARSER */
 
diff --git a/ext/date/extconf.rb b/ext/date/extconf.rb
index 963f96f..df2eb5b 100644
--- a/ext/date/extconf.rb
+++ b/ext/date/extconf.rb
@@ -16,4 +16,8 @@
 have_func("rb_gc_mark_movable", "ruby.h") # RUBY_VERSION >= 2.7
 have_const("RUBY_TYPED_EMBEDDABLE", "ruby.h") # RUBY_VERSION >= 3.3
 
+# check if the declarations are exposed
+have_func(%[rb_int_positive_pow(0, 0)], "ruby/util.h") # RUBY_VERSION >= 3.1
+have_func(%[ruby_scan_digits("", 0, 0, NULL, NULL)], "ruby/util.h") # RUBY_VERSION >= 3.1
+
 create_makefile('date_core')