diff --git a/urdf/include/urdf/model.h b/urdf/include/urdf/model.h
index f9e676a8..172b3529 100644
--- a/urdf/include/urdf/model.h
+++ b/urdf/include/urdf/model.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #include <tinyxml.h>
 #include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
 #include <boost/weak_ptr.hpp>
+#include <ros/ros.h>
 
 namespace urdf{
 
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ class Model: public ModelInterface
   /// \brief Load Model given a filename
   bool initFile(const std::string& filename);
   /// \brief Load Model given the name of a parameter on the parameter server
-  bool initParam(const std::string& param);
+  bool initParam(const std::string& param, const ros::NodeHandle& nh = ros::NodeHandle());
   /// \brief Load Model from a XML-string
   bool initString(const std::string& xmlstring);
 };
diff --git a/urdf/src/model.cpp b/urdf/src/model.cpp
index a7210564..a7534285 100644
--- a/urdf/src/model.cpp
+++ b/urdf/src/model.cpp
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@
 
 #include "urdf/model.h"
 
-#include <ros/ros.h>
-
 /* we include the default parser for plain URDF files; 
    other parsers are loaded via plugins (if available) */
 #include <urdf_parser/urdf_parser.h>
@@ -86,9 +84,8 @@ bool Model::initFile(const std::string& filename)
 }
 
 
-bool Model::initParam(const std::string& param)
+bool Model::initParam(const std::string& param, const ros::NodeHandle& nh)
 {
-  ros::NodeHandle nh;
   std::string xml_string;
   
   // gets the location of the robot description on the parameter server
diff --git a/urdf/test/test_robot_model_parser.cpp b/urdf/test/test_robot_model_parser.cpp
index f6286a53..1a146d34 100644
--- a/urdf/test/test_robot_model_parser.cpp
+++ b/urdf/test/test_robot_model_parser.cpp
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 
 #include <string>
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
-#include "urdf/model.h"
+#include <urdf/model.h>
 
 // Including ros, just to be able to call ros::init(), to remove unwanted
 // args from command-line.