diff --git a/mm/mmu_notifier.c b/mm/mmu_notifier.c
index 245b74f39f91..df69ba6e797f 100644
--- a/mm/mmu_notifier.c
+++ b/mm/mmu_notifier.c
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #include <linux/sched/mm.h>
 #include <linux/slab.h>
 
-#include "vma.h"
+#include "internal.h"
 
 /* global SRCU for all MMs */
 DEFINE_STATIC_SRCU(srcu);
diff --git a/mm/nommu.c b/mm/nommu.c
index 82556301b356..a7da5ec21f42 100644
--- a/mm/nommu.c
+++ b/mm/nommu.c
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
 #include <asm/tlbflush.h>
 #include <asm/mmu_context.h>
 #include "internal.h"
-#include "vma.h"
 
 unsigned long highest_memmap_pfn;
 int heap_stack_gap = 0;
diff --git a/mm/vma.c b/mm/vma.c
index c253c5498359..d74a8ae16bfa 100644
--- a/mm/vma.c
+++ b/mm/vma.c
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
  * VMA-specific functions.
  */
 
+/*
+ * To allow for userland testing we place internal dependencies in
+ * vma_internal.h and external VMA API declarations in vma.h.
+ */
 #include "vma_internal.h"
 #include "vma.h"
 
diff --git a/mm/vma.h b/mm/vma.h
index 58f48609ce22..adb7a0ba1192 100644
--- a/mm/vma.h
+++ b/mm/vma.h
@@ -2,7 +2,14 @@
 /*
  * vma.h
  *
- * Core VMA manipulation API implemented in vma.c.
+ * Core VMA manipulation API implemented in vma.c, vma_init.c and vma_exec.c.
+ *
+ * Note that, in order for VMA logic to be userland testable, this header
+ * intentionally includes no dependencies.
+ *
+ * This is specifically scoped to mm-only. Users of this functionality (other
+ * than the core VMA implementation itself) should not include this header
+ * directly, but rather include internal.h.
  */
 #ifndef __MM_VMA_H
 #define __MM_VMA_H
diff --git a/mm/vma_exec.c b/mm/vma_exec.c
index 13a05e041195..ef1fa2b161f3 100644
--- a/mm/vma_exec.c
+++ b/mm/vma_exec.c
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
 
 /*
- * Functions explicitly implemented for exec functionality which however are
- * explicitly VMA-only logic.
+ * Functions provided for exec functionality which however are
+ * specifically VMA-only logic.
  */
 
+/*
+ * To allow for userland testing we place internal dependencies in
+ * vma_internal.h and external VMA API declarations in vma.h.
+ */
 #include "vma_internal.h"
 #include "vma.h"
 
diff --git a/mm/vma_init.c b/mm/vma_init.c
index a459669a1654..715feee283f0 100644
--- a/mm/vma_init.c
+++ b/mm/vma_init.c
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
  * between CONFIG_MMU and non-CONFIG_MMU kernel configurations.
  */
 
+/*
+ * To allow for userland testing we place internal dependencies in
+ * vma_internal.h and external VMA API declarations in vma.h.
+ */
 #include "vma_internal.h"
 #include "vma.h"
 
diff --git a/mm/vma_internal.h b/mm/vma_internal.h
index 2da6d224c1a8..4d300e7bbaf4 100644
--- a/mm/vma_internal.h
+++ b/mm/vma_internal.h
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 /*
  * vma_internal.h
  *
- * Headers required by vma.c, which can be substituted accordingly when testing
- * VMA functionality.
+ * Headers required by vma.c, vma_init.c and vma_exec.c, which can be
+ * substituted accordingly when testing VMA functionality.
  */
 
 #ifndef __MM_VMA_INTERNAL_H