diff --git a/src/engine/CMakeLists.txt b/src/engine/CMakeLists.txt
index 0f56e84a..0aacf637 100644
--- a/src/engine/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/engine/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -76,8 +76,6 @@ set(MUJOCO_ENGINE_SRCS
     engine_util_sparse_avx.h
     engine_util_spatial.c
     engine_util_spatial.h
-    engine_vfs.c
-    engine_vfs.h
     engine_vis_init.c
     engine_vis_init.h
     engine_vis_interact.c
diff --git a/src/user/CMakeLists.txt b/src/user/CMakeLists.txt
index 73c2050e..c5d02994 100644
--- a/src/user/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/user/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ set(MUJOCO_USER_SRCS
     user_objects.h
     user_util.cc
     user_util.h
+    user_vfs.c
+    user_vfs.h
 )
 
 target_sources(mujoco PRIVATE ${MUJOCO_USER_SRCS})
diff --git a/src/user/user_objects.cc b/src/user/user_objects.cc
index 17b314ec..6691143f 100644
--- a/src/user/user_objects.cc
+++ b/src/user/user_objects.cc
@@ -45,11 +45,11 @@
 #include "engine/engine_util_misc.h"
 #include "engine/engine_util_solve.h"
 #include "engine/engine_util_spatial.h"
-#include "engine/engine_vfs.h"
 #include "user/user_api.h"
 #include "user/user_cache.h"
 #include "user/user_model.h"
 #include "user/user_util.h"
+#include "user/user_vfs.h"
 
 namespace {
 namespace mju = ::mujoco::util;
diff --git a/src/engine/engine_vfs.c b/src/user/user_vfs.c
similarity index 99%
rename from src/engine/engine_vfs.c
rename to src/user/user_vfs.c
index f6afa0c6..c4448bf4 100644
--- a/src/engine/engine_vfs.c
+++ b/src/user/user_vfs.c
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-#include "engine/engine_vfs.h"
+#include "user/user_vfs.h"
 
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
diff --git a/src/engine/engine_vfs.h b/src/user/user_vfs.h
similarity index 88%
rename from src/engine/engine_vfs.h
rename to src/user/user_vfs.h
index 1276c9a5..80a7fcef 100644
--- a/src/engine/engine_vfs.h
+++ b/src/user/user_vfs.h
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
 // 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.
+// IWYU pragma: private, include "third_party/mujoco/include/mujoco.h"
+// IWYU pragma: friend "third_party/mujoco/src/.*"
 
-#ifndef MUJOCO_SRC_ENGINE_ENGINE_VFS_H_
-#define MUJOCO_SRC_ENGINE_ENGINE_VFS_H_
+#ifndef MUJOCO_SRC_USER_USER_VFS_H_
+#define MUJOCO_SRC_USER_USER_VFS_H_
 
 #include <stddef.h>
 
@@ -53,4 +55,4 @@ MJAPI mjResource* mju_openVfsResource(const char* name, const mjVFS* vfs);
 }
 #endif
 
-#endif  // MUJOCO_SRC_ENGINE_ENGINE_VFS_H_
+#endif  // MUJOCO_SRC_USER_USER_VFS_H_
diff --git a/src/xml/xml.cc b/src/xml/xml.cc
index b765f01d..dfd60c61 100644
--- a/src/xml/xml.cc
+++ b/src/xml/xml.cc
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@
 #include "cc/array_safety.h"
 #include "engine/engine_crossplatform.h"
 #include "engine/engine_resource.h"
-#include "engine/engine_vfs.h"
 #include "user/user_api.h"
 #include "user/user_util.h"
+#include "user/user_vfs.h"
 #include "xml/xml_native_reader.h"
 #include "xml/xml_native_writer.h"
 #include "xml/xml_urdf.h"
diff --git a/src/xml/xml_api.cc b/src/xml/xml_api.cc
index 9b8a3cc6..1f30e8a5 100644
--- a/src/xml/xml_api.cc
+++ b/src/xml/xml_api.cc
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@
 #include <mujoco/mjmodel.h>
 #include "engine/engine_io.h"
 #include "engine/engine_resource.h"
-#include "engine/engine_vfs.h"
 #include "user/user_api.h"
+#include "user/user_vfs.h"
 #include "xml/xml.h"
 #include "xml/xml_native_reader.h"
 #include "xml/xml_util.h"
diff --git a/test/engine/CMakeLists.txt b/test/engine/CMakeLists.txt
index 727cf955..f35bb8b6 100644
--- a/test/engine/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/engine/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -96,9 +96,6 @@ target_link_libraries(engine_util_solve_test fixture gmock)
 mujoco_test(engine_util_spatial_test)
 target_link_libraries(engine_util_spatial_test fixture gmock)
 
-mujoco_test(engine_vfs_test)
-target_link_libraries(engine_vfs_test fixture gmock)
-
 mujoco_test(
   engine_vis_state_test
   PROPERTIES
diff --git a/test/user/CMakeLists.txt b/test/user/CMakeLists.txt
index 66f8615a..16441519 100644
--- a/test/user/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/user/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -39,3 +39,6 @@ target_link_libraries(
 
 mujoco_test(user_composite_test)
 target_link_libraries(user_composite_test fixture gmock)
+
+mujoco_test(user_vfs_test)
+target_link_libraries(user_vfs_test fixture gmock)
diff --git a/test/engine/engine_vfs_test.cc b/test/user/user_vfs_test.cc
similarity index 99%
rename from test/engine/engine_vfs_test.cc
rename to test/user/user_vfs_test.cc
index fdc0cbdf..cc3ce120 100644
--- a/test/engine/engine_vfs_test.cc
+++ b/test/user/user_vfs_test.cc
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 #include <mujoco/mujoco.h>
 #include "src/engine/engine_resource.h"
-#include "src/engine/engine_vfs.h"
+#include "src/user/user_vfs.h"
 #include "test/fixture.h"
 
 namespace mujoco {