diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/_lib/cpp/copying.pxd b/python/cudf/cudf/_lib/cpp/copying.pxd
index 29a6518fae8..a318dc68ac9 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/_lib/cpp/copying.pxd
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/_lib/cpp/copying.pxd
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ cdef extern from "cudf/copying.hpp" namespace "cudf" nogil:
         vector[size_type] splits
     ) except +
 
-    cdef struct packed_columns:
+    cdef cppclass packed_columns:
         unique_ptr[metadata] metadata_
         unique_ptr[device_buffer] gpu_data