diff --git a/numpy/testing/_private/extbuild.py b/numpy/testing/_private/extbuild.py
index b7a071e7f5f1..9b4e95366d8d 100644
--- a/numpy/testing/_private/extbuild.py
+++ b/numpy/testing/_private/extbuild.py
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ def compile_extension_module(
     dirname = builddir / name
     dirname.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
     cfile = _convert_str_to_file(source_string, dirname)
-    include_dirs = [sysconfig.get_config_var('INCLUDEPY')] + include_dirs
+    include_dirs = include_dirs + [sysconfig.get_config_var('INCLUDEPY')]
 
     return _c_compile(
         cfile, outputfilename=dirname / modname,