diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/NLPacket.h b/libraries/networking/src/NLPacket.h
index 3309032e68..896fbaa66d 100644
--- a/libraries/networking/src/NLPacket.h
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/NLPacket.h
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@
 class NLPacket : public udt::Packet {
     Q_OBJECT
 public:
+    
+    // this is used by the Octree classes - must be known at compile time
+    static const int MAX_PACKET_HEADER_SIZE =
+        sizeof(udt::Packet::SequenceNumberAndBitField) + sizeof(udt::Packet::MessageNumberAndBitField) +
+        sizeof(PacketType) + sizeof(PacketVersion) + NUM_BYTES_RFC4122_UUID + NUM_BYTES_MD5_HASH;
+    
     static std::unique_ptr<NLPacket> create(PacketType type, qint64 size = -1,
                                             bool isReliable = false, bool isPartOfMessage = false);
     
diff --git a/libraries/networking/src/udt/PacketHeaders.h b/libraries/networking/src/udt/PacketHeaders.h
index 155d5e349d..d8bc1d52e6 100644
--- a/libraries/networking/src/udt/PacketHeaders.h
+++ b/libraries/networking/src/udt/PacketHeaders.h
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ enum class PacketType : uint8_t {
 };
 
 const int NUM_BYTES_MD5_HASH = 16;
-const int MAX_PACKET_HEADER_BYTES = 4 + NUM_BYTES_RFC4122_UUID + NUM_BYTES_MD5_HASH;
 
 typedef char PacketVersion;
 
diff --git a/libraries/octree/src/OctreePacketData.h b/libraries/octree/src/OctreePacketData.h
index a242f9117f..da4ca7164d 100644
--- a/libraries/octree/src/OctreePacketData.h
+++ b/libraries/octree/src/OctreePacketData.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #include <BackgroundMode.h>
 #include <SharedUtil.h>
 #include <ShapeInfo.h>
-#include <udt/BasePacket.h>
+#include <NLPacket.h>
 #include <udt/PacketHeaders.h>
 
 #include "OctreeConstants.h"
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ const unsigned int OCTREE_PACKET_EXTRA_HEADERS_SIZE = sizeof(OCTREE_PACKET_FLAGS
                 + sizeof(OCTREE_PACKET_SEQUENCE) + sizeof(OCTREE_PACKET_SENT_TIME);
 
 const unsigned int MAX_OCTREE_PACKET_DATA_SIZE =
-    udt::MAX_PACKET_SIZE - (MAX_PACKET_HEADER_BYTES + OCTREE_PACKET_EXTRA_HEADERS_SIZE);
+    udt::MAX_PACKET_SIZE - (NLPacket::MAX_PACKET_HEADER_SIZE + OCTREE_PACKET_EXTRA_HEADERS_SIZE);
 const unsigned int MAX_OCTREE_UNCOMRESSED_PACKET_SIZE = MAX_OCTREE_PACKET_DATA_SIZE;
 
 const unsigned int MINIMUM_ATTEMPT_MORE_PACKING = sizeof(OCTREE_PACKET_INTERNAL_SECTION_SIZE) + 40;