diff --git a/headers/private/kernel/util/KMessage.h b/headers/private/kernel/util/KMessage.h
index 0f69ed9fac..e0eea988d7 100644
--- a/headers/private/kernel/util/KMessage.h
+++ b/headers/private/kernel/util/KMessage.h
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ public:
 
 private:
 	friend class KMessageField;
+	friend class BMessage;		// not so nice, but makes things easier
 
 	struct Header {
 		uint32		magic;
@@ -141,6 +142,8 @@ private:
 	int32			fBufferCapacity;
 	uint32			fFlags;
 	int32			fLastFieldOffset;
+
+	static const uint32	kMessageHeaderMagic;
 };
 
 // KMessageField
diff --git a/src/kernel/core/util/KMessage.cpp b/src/kernel/core/util/KMessage.cpp
index 8a91d50e9b..bc1430cc9c 100644
--- a/src/kernel/core/util/KMessage.cpp
+++ b/src/kernel/core/util/KMessage.cpp
@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@
 #	endif
 #endif
 
-static const uint32 kMessageHeaderMagic = 'kMsG';
 static const int32 kMessageReallocChunkSize = 64;
 
+// kMessageHeaderMagic
+const uint32 KMessage::kMessageHeaderMagic = 'kMsG';
+
 // _Align
 static inline
 int32