diff --git a/src/atom.cpp b/src/atom.cpp
index 2f27dd7457..00b9701689 100644
--- a/src/atom.cpp
+++ b/src/atom.cpp
@@ -38,10 +38,6 @@
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cstring>
 
-#ifdef LMP_INTEL
-#include "neigh_request.h"
-#endif
-
 #ifdef LMP_GPU
 #include "fix_gpu.h"
 #include <cmath>
@@ -2177,12 +2173,7 @@ void Atom::setup_sort_bins()
   bininvz = nbinz / (bboxhi[2]-bboxlo[2]);
 
 #ifdef LMP_INTEL
-  int intel_neigh = 0;
-  if (neighbor->nrequest) {
-    if (neighbor->requests[0]->intel) intel_neigh = 1;
-  } else if (neighbor->old_nrequest)
-    if (neighbor->old_requests[0]->intel) intel_neigh = 1;
-  if (intel_neigh && userbinsize == 0.0) {
+  if (neighbor->has_intel_request() && userbinsize == 0.0) {
     if (neighbor->binsizeflag) bininv = 1.0/neighbor->binsize_user;
 
     double nx_low = neighbor->bboxlo[0];
diff --git a/src/neighbor.cpp b/src/neighbor.cpp
index 3d82479c6c..45dc5cfecd 100644
--- a/src/neighbor.cpp
+++ b/src/neighbor.cpp
@@ -2091,6 +2091,13 @@ NeighRequest *Neighbor::add_request(Command *requestor, const char *style, int f
   return req;
 }
 
+/* report if there is a neighbor list with the intel flag set */
+bool Neighbor::has_intel_request() const
+{
+  return (((nrequest > 0) && (requests[0]->intel > 0))
+          ||  ((old_nrequest > 0) && (old_requests[0]->intel > 0)));
+}
+
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    setup neighbor binning and neighbor stencils
    called before run and every reneighbor if box size/shape changes
diff --git a/src/neighbor.h b/src/neighbor.h
index 3c392feb0a..3f3a75aa1e 100644
--- a/src/neighbor.h
+++ b/src/neighbor.h
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ class Neighbor : protected Pointers {
   NeighRequest *add_request(class Compute *, int);
   NeighRequest *add_request(class Command *, const char *, int);
 
+  // report if we have INTEL package neighbor lists
+  bool has_intel_request() const;
+
   int decide();                     // decide whether to build or not
   virtual int check_distance();     // check max distance moved since last build
   void setup_bins();                // setup bins based on box and cutoff