diff --git a/pandas/_libs/writers.pyx b/pandas/_libs/writers.pyx
index bd5c0290b2879..48eedd1fd1af6 100644
--- a/pandas/_libs/writers.pyx
+++ b/pandas/_libs/writers.pyx
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 cimport cython
+from cython cimport Py_ssize_t
 import numpy as np
 
 from cpython cimport (