diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 7bb458c44a..bb771d5e26 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -304,16 +304,7 @@ if(RAFT_COMPILE_LIBRARY)
     src/distance/specializations/detail/inner_product_double_double_double_int.cu
     src/distance/specializations/detail/jensen_shannon_float_float_float_int.cu
     src/distance/specializations/detail/jensen_shannon_double_double_double_int.cu
-    src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/gram_matrix_base_double.cu
-    src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/gram_matrix_base_float.cu
-    src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/polynomial_kernel_double_int.cu
-    src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/polynomial_kernel_float_int.cu
-    # These are somehow missing a kernel definition which is causing a compile error.
-    # src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/rbf_kernel_double.cu
-    # src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/rbf_kernel_float.cu
     src/neighbors/brute_force_knn_int64_t_float.cu
-    src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/tanh_kernel_double.cu
-    src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/tanh_kernel_float.cu
     src/distance/specializations/detail/kl_divergence_float_float_float_int.cu
     src/distance/specializations/detail/kl_divergence_double_double_double_int.cu
     src/distance/specializations/detail/l1_float_float_float_int.cu
@@ -332,6 +323,14 @@ if(RAFT_COMPILE_LIBRARY)
     src/distance/specializations/fused_l2_nn_double_int64.cu
     src/distance/specializations/fused_l2_nn_float_int.cu
     src/distance/specializations/fused_l2_nn_float_int64.cu
+    src/distance/specializations/kernels/gram_matrix_base_double.cu
+    src/distance/specializations/kernels/gram_matrix_base_float.cu
+    src/distance/specializations/kernels/polynomial_kernel_double_int.cu
+    src/distance/specializations/kernels/polynomial_kernel_float_int.cu
+    src/distance/specializations/kernels/rbf_kernel_double.cu
+    src/distance/specializations/kernels/rbf_kernel_float.cu
+    src/distance/specializations/kernels/tanh_kernel_double.cu
+    src/distance/specializations/kernels/tanh_kernel_float.cu
     src/matrix/specializations/detail/select_k_float_uint32_t.cu
     src/matrix/specializations/detail/select_k_float_int64_t.cu
     src/matrix/specializations/detail/select_k_half_uint32_t.cu
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels.cuh
index 86f9f82406..86a2107f82 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels.cuh
@@ -16,17 +16,9 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh>
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_factory.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/kernel_factory.cuh>
 #include <raft/util/cuda_utils.cuh>
 
 #include <raft/distance/distance.cuh>
 #include <raft/linalg/gemm.cuh>
-
-namespace raft::distance::kernels {
-
-// TODO: Need to expose formal APIs for this that are more consistent w/ other APIs in RAFT
-using raft::distance::kernels::detail::GramMatrixBase;
-using raft::distance::kernels::detail::KernelFactory;
-
-};  // end namespace raft::distance::kernels
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh
similarity index 99%
rename from cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh
rename to cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh
index f03f746161..bdd02be1b1 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh
@@ -20,14 +20,12 @@
 #include <raft/core/device_resources.hpp>
 #include <raft/distance/distance.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/distance_types.hpp>
-//#include <raft/sparse/detail/cusparse_wrappers.h>
-#include <raft/sparse/distance/distance.cuh>
-#include <raft/sparse/linalg/spmm.cuh>
-
 #include <raft/linalg/detail/cublas_wrappers.hpp>
 #include <raft/linalg/gemm.cuh>
+#include <raft/sparse/distance/distance.cuh>
+#include <raft/sparse/linalg/spmm.cuh>
 
-namespace raft::distance::kernels::detail {
+namespace raft::distance::kernels {
 
 template <typename math_t>
 using dense_input_matrix_view_t = raft::device_matrix_view<const math_t, int, layout_stride>;
@@ -507,4 +505,4 @@ class GramMatrixBase {
   }
 };
 
-};  // end namespace raft::distance::kernels::detail
+};  // end namespace raft::distance::kernels
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_factory.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/kernel_factory.cuh
similarity index 95%
rename from cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_factory.cuh
rename to cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/kernel_factory.cuh
index 7c74e231d7..9999b29d85 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_factory.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/kernel_factory.cuh
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include <raft/distance/distance_types.hpp>
 #include <raft/util/cudart_utils.hpp>
 
-namespace raft::distance::kernels::detail {
+namespace raft::distance::kernels {
 
 template <typename math_t>
 class KernelFactory {
@@ -61,4 +61,4 @@ class KernelFactory {
   }
 };
 
-};  // end namespace raft::distance::kernels::detail
+};  // end namespace raft::distance::kernels
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh
similarity index 99%
rename from cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh
rename to cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh
index 785c66a3a2..5bf011bd7a 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 #include <raft/linalg/gemm.cuh>
 #include <raft/sparse/linalg/norm.cuh>
 
-namespace raft::distance::kernels::detail {
+namespace raft::distance::kernels {
 
 /** Epiloge function for polynomial kernel without padding.
  * Calculates output = (gain*in + offset)^exponent
@@ -738,4 +738,4 @@ class RBFKernel : public GramMatrixBase<math_t> {
   }
 };
 
-};  // end namespace raft::distance::kernels::detail
+};  // end namespace raft::distance::kernels
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/detail/kernels.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/detail/kernels.cuh
deleted file mode 100644
index 75c9c023e8..0000000000
--- a/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/detail/kernels.cuh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (c) 2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh>
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
-
-extern template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::GramMatrixBase<double>;
-extern template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::GramMatrixBase<float>;
-
-extern template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::PolynomialKernel<double, int>;
-extern template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::PolynomialKernel<float, int>;
-
-extern template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::TanhKernel<double>;
-extern template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::TanhKernel<float>;
-
-// These are somehow missing a kernel definition which is causing a compile error
-// extern template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::RBFKernel<double>;
-// extern template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::RBFKernel<float>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/distance.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/distance.cuh
index a34f696e9e..c2324a24cd 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/distance.cuh
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/distance.cuh
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/hellinger_expanded.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/inner_product.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/jensen_shannon.cuh>
-#include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/kernels.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/kl_divergence.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/l1.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/l2_expanded.cuh>
@@ -32,3 +31,4 @@
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/lp_unexpanded.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/detail/russel_rao.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations/fused_l2_nn_min.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/specializations/kernels.cuh>
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/kernels.cuh b/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/kernels.cuh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f213aeaf9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/distance/specializations/kernels.cuh
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
+
+extern template class raft::distance::kernels::GramMatrixBase<double>;
+extern template class raft::distance::kernels::GramMatrixBase<float>;
+
+extern template class raft::distance::kernels::PolynomialKernel<double, int>;
+extern template class raft::distance::kernels::PolynomialKernel<float, int>;
+
+extern template class raft::distance::kernels::TanhKernel<double>;
+extern template class raft::distance::kernels::TanhKernel<float>;
+
+extern template class raft::distance::kernels::RBFKernel<double>;
+extern template class raft::distance::kernels::RBFKernel<float>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/gram_matrix_base_double.cu b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/gram_matrix_base_double.cu
similarity index 83%
rename from cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/gram_matrix_base_double.cu
rename to cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/gram_matrix_base_double.cu
index 7c80eb29d0..c86bb2796f 100644
--- a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/gram_matrix_base_double.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/gram_matrix_base_double.cu
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations.cuh>
 
-template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::GramMatrixBase<double>;
\ No newline at end of file
+template class raft::distance::kernels::GramMatrixBase<double>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/gram_matrix_base_float.cu b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/gram_matrix_base_float.cu
similarity index 83%
rename from cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/gram_matrix_base_float.cu
rename to cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/gram_matrix_base_float.cu
index d777e73dc9..6c160f7e9a 100644
--- a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/gram_matrix_base_float.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/gram_matrix_base_float.cu
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/gram_matrix.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations.cuh>
 
-template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::GramMatrixBase<float>;
\ No newline at end of file
+template class raft::distance::kernels::GramMatrixBase<float>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/polynomial_kernel_double_int.cu b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/polynomial_kernel_double_int.cu
similarity index 82%
rename from cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/polynomial_kernel_double_int.cu
rename to cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/polynomial_kernel_double_int.cu
index 28306d0c21..ae08ae9fef 100644
--- a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/polynomial_kernel_double_int.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/polynomial_kernel_double_int.cu
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations.cuh>
 
-template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::PolynomialKernel<double, int>;
\ No newline at end of file
+template class raft::distance::kernels::PolynomialKernel<double, int>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/polynomial_kernel_float_int.cu b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/polynomial_kernel_float_int.cu
similarity index 82%
rename from cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/polynomial_kernel_float_int.cu
rename to cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/polynomial_kernel_float_int.cu
index 6609de69ac..7bcbe645e9 100644
--- a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/polynomial_kernel_float_int.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/polynomial_kernel_float_int.cu
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations.cuh>
 
-template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::PolynomialKernel<float, int>;
\ No newline at end of file
+template class raft::distance::kernels::PolynomialKernel<float, int>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/rbf_kernel_double.cu b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/rbf_kernel_double.cu
similarity index 83%
rename from cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/rbf_kernel_double.cu
rename to cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/rbf_kernel_double.cu
index 7ea4b60e09..411c4b879f 100644
--- a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/rbf_kernel_double.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/rbf_kernel_double.cu
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations.cuh>
 
-template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::RBFKernel<double>;
\ No newline at end of file
+template class raft::distance::kernels::RBFKernel<double>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/rbf_kernel_float.cu b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/rbf_kernel_float.cu
similarity index 84%
rename from cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/rbf_kernel_float.cu
rename to cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/rbf_kernel_float.cu
index 423613dcd1..0a1ed92f4e 100644
--- a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/rbf_kernel_float.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/rbf_kernel_float.cu
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations.cuh>
 
-template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::RBFKernel<float>;
\ No newline at end of file
+template class raft::distance::kernels::RBFKernel<float>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/tanh_kernel_double.cu b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/tanh_kernel_double.cu
similarity index 83%
rename from cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/tanh_kernel_double.cu
rename to cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/tanh_kernel_double.cu
index ab818db73b..7b58343367 100644
--- a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/tanh_kernel_double.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/tanh_kernel_double.cu
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations.cuh>
 
-template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::TanhKernel<double>;
\ No newline at end of file
+template class raft::distance::kernels::TanhKernel<double>;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/tanh_kernel_float.cu b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/tanh_kernel_float.cu
similarity index 83%
rename from cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/tanh_kernel_float.cu
rename to cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/tanh_kernel_float.cu
index f7825e577a..8cc73bb81f 100644
--- a/cpp/src/distance/specializations/detail/kernels/tanh_kernel_float.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/distance/specializations/kernels/tanh_kernel_float.cu
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include <raft/distance/detail/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
+#include <raft/distance/kernels/kernel_matrices.cuh>
 #include <raft/distance/specializations.cuh>
 
-template class raft::distance::kernels::detail::TanhKernel<float>;
\ No newline at end of file
+template class raft::distance::kernels::TanhKernel<float>;
\ No newline at end of file