diff --git a/wolfcrypt/src/aes.c b/wolfcrypt/src/aes.c
index 79a2b0517e..24522a8576 100644
--- a/wolfcrypt/src/aes.c
+++ b/wolfcrypt/src/aes.c
@@ -228,6 +228,16 @@ block cipher mechanism that uses n-bit binary string parameter key with 128-bits
     }
 #endif
 
+/* Select the base or the crypto-extension AES at run time on 32-bit Arm.  Same
+ * test as WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_HW_FLAGS in aes.h - which documents it - plus the
+ * run-time detection needed to make the choice. */
+#if defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM) && !defined(__aarch64__) && \
+    !defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM_THUMB2) && \
+    !defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM_NO_HW_CRYPTO) && \
+    !defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM_NO_BASE_IMPL) && defined(HAVE_CPUID_ARM32)
+    #define WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_DISPATCH
+#endif
+
 /* Define AES implementation includes and functions */
 #if defined(STM32_CRYPTO) && !defined(WOLF_CRYPTO_CB_ONLY_AES)
      /* STM32F2/F4/F7/L4/L5/H7/WB55 hardware AES support for ECB, CBC, CTR and GCM modes */
@@ -1086,8 +1096,8 @@ block cipher mechanism that uses n-bit binary string parameter key with 128-bits
 
 #elif defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM)
 /* WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_DISPATCH - run-time selection between the base and the
- * crypto-extension AES on 32-bit Arm - is defined in aes.h, which needs it to
- * size the Aes object and to know whether this file owns the GMULT name. */
+ * crypto-extension AES on 32-bit Arm - is defined at the top of this file.  See
+ * WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_HW_FLAGS in aes.h for how the two relate. */
 
 #if defined(__aarch64__) && !defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM_NO_HW_CRYPTO)
 static cpuid_flags_t cpuid_flags = WC_CPUID_INITIALIZER;
diff --git a/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/aes.h b/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/aes.h
index 8d76f96054..1cd4702b4d 100644
--- a/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/aes.h
+++ b/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/aes.h
@@ -35,40 +35,36 @@ block cipher mechanism that uses n-bit binary string parameter key with 128-bits
 #define WOLF_CRYPT_AES_H
 
 #include <wolfssl/wolfcrypt/types.h>
-#include <wolfssl/wolfcrypt/cpuid.h>
 
 #if defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM) && !defined(GCM_SMALL) && !defined(GCM_TABLE) && \
     !defined(GCM_TABLE_4BIT)
     #define GCM_TABLE_4BIT
 #endif
 
-/* On 32-bit Arm both the base (table) AES and the Armv8 crypto-extension AES
+/* WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_HW_FLAGS - whether the Aes object carries the run-time
+ * implementation-selection flags on 32-bit Arm.
+ *
+ * On 32-bit Arm both the base (table) AES and the Armv8 crypto-extension AES
  * are compiled into one object by default, and the implementation is chosen at
  * run time through aes->use_aes_hw_crypto - mirroring the AArch64 path.  The
  * base fallback can be dropped with WOLFSSL_ARMASM_NO_BASE_IMPL (crypto always
  * present), and WOLFSSL_ARMASM_NO_HW_CRYPTO keeps only the base, both of which
  * revert to direct calls with no run-time check.  Thumb-2 has base assembly
- * only - no crypto-extension AES - so it never dispatches, and neither does a
- * build with no run-time detection to dispatch on (HAVE_CPUID_ARM32); both fall
- * back to the compile-time choice.
- *
- * Defined here rather than in aes.c because the header needs it too: it decides
- * whether aes.c compiles the software GHASH (which owns the GMULT name).
+ * only - no crypto-extension AES - so it never dispatches either.
  *
- * WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_HW_FLAGS - whether the Aes object carries the selection
- * flags - is deliberately the same test without HAVE_CPUID_ARM32.  That depends
- * on __ARM_ARCH, which comes from -march rather than from options.h, and the
- * layout of a public structure must not vary with a compiler flag the
- * application is not obliged to match.  A build with the flags but no run-time
- * detection simply never reads them. */
+ * aes.c performs the dispatch under WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_DISPATCH, deliberately
+ * the same test as here with HAVE_CPUID_ARM32 added: a build with no run-time
+ * detection to dispatch on falls back to the compile-time choice.  The flags
+ * are not conditional on it because HAVE_CPUID_ARM32 depends on __ARM_ARCH,
+ * which comes from -march rather than from options.h, and the layout of a
+ * public structure must not vary with a compiler flag the application is not
+ * obliged to match.  A build with the flags but no run-time detection simply
+ * never reads them. */
 #if defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM) && !defined(__aarch64__) && \
     !defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM_THUMB2) && \
     !defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM_NO_HW_CRYPTO) && \
     !defined(WOLFSSL_ARMASM_NO_BASE_IMPL)
     #define WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_HW_FLAGS
-    #ifdef HAVE_CPUID_ARM32
-        #define WOLFSSL_ARM32_AES_DISPATCH
-    #endif
 #endif
 
 #if !defined(NO_AES) || defined(WOLFSSL_SM4)