diff --git a/File.c b/File.c
index 2b17dce5..586efedc 100644
--- a/File.c
+++ b/File.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include "general.h"
 #include "THFile.h"
 #include "luaT.h"
 
diff --git a/general.h b/general.h
index 62b17d41..4896adf5 100644
--- a/general.h
+++ b/general.h
@@ -15,4 +15,14 @@
 
 #endif
 
+#if LUA_VERSION_NUM >= 503
+/* one can simply enable LUA_COMPAT_5_2 to be backward compatible.
+However, this does not work when we are trying to use system-installed lua,
+hence these redefines
+*/
+#define luaL_optlong(L,n,d)     ((long)luaL_optinteger(L, (n), (d)))
+#define luaL_checklong(L,n)     ((long)luaL_checkinteger(L, (n)))
+#define luaL_checkint(L,n)      ((int)luaL_checkinteger(L, (n)))
+#endif
+
 #endif