diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index e9d54bb..8e02308 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -593,6 +593,17 @@ class ssh (
   if $ssh_config_include == 'USE_DEFAULTS' {
     $ssh_config_include_real = $default_ssh_config_include
   } else {
+    case type3x($ssh_config_include) {
+      'array': {
+        validate_array($ssh_config_include)
+      }
+      'string': {
+        validate_string($ssh_config_include)
+      }
+      default: {
+        fail('ssh::ssh_config_include type must be a strting or array.')
+      }
+    }
     $ssh_config_include_real = $ssh_config_include
   }
 
@@ -668,6 +679,17 @@ class ssh (
   if $sshd_config_include == 'USE_DEFAULTS' {
     $sshd_config_include_real = $default_sshd_config_include
   } else {
+    case type3x($sshd_config_include) {
+      'array': {
+        validate_array($sshd_config_include)
+      }
+      'string': {
+        validate_string($sshd_config_include)
+      }
+      default: {
+        fail('ssh::sshd_config_include type must be a strting or array.')
+      }
+    }
     $sshd_config_include_real = $sshd_config_include
   }
 
diff --git a/spec/classes/init_spec.rb b/spec/classes/init_spec.rb
index 6a9449f..a1c743f 100644
--- a/spec/classes/init_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/init_spec.rb
@@ -2786,4 +2786,61 @@ describe 'sshd_config_print_last_log param' do
       end # var[:name].each
     end # validations.sort.each
   end # describe 'variable type and content validations'
+
+  describe 'sshd_config_include' do
+    context 'when set to an array' do
+      let(:params) { {'sshd_config_include' => ['file1','file2'] } }
+
+      it { should contain_file('sshd_config').with_content(/^Include file1 file2$/) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when set to a string' do
+      let(:params) { {'sshd_config_include' => 'file1' } }
+
+      it { should contain_file('sshd_config').with_content(/^Include file1$/) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when not set' do
+      it { should_not contain_file('sshd_config').with_content(/^\s*Include/) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when set to an invalid type (not string or array)' do
+      let(:params) { {'sshd_config_include' => true } }
+
+      it 'should fail' do
+        expect {
+          should contain_class('ssh')
+        }.to raise_error(Puppet::Error)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe 'ssh_config_include' do
+    context 'when set to an array' do
+      let(:params) { {'ssh_config_include' => ['file1','file2'] } }
+
+      it { should contain_file('ssh_config').with_content(/^Include file1 file2$/) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when set to a string' do
+      let(:params) { {'ssh_config_include' => 'file1' } }
+
+      it { should contain_file('ssh_config').with_content(/^Include file1$/) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when not set' do
+      it { should_not contain_file('ssh_config').with_content(/^\s*Include/) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when set to an invalid type (not string or array)' do
+      let(:params) { {'ssh_config_include' => true } }
+
+      it 'should fail' do
+        expect {
+          should contain_class('ssh')
+        }.to raise_error(Puppet::Error)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
 end
diff --git a/types/include.pp b/types/include.pp
deleted file mode 100644
index f5b5f20..0000000
--- a/types/include.pp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-# config files to be includes
-# @summary
-#   directory of array of directories to be included
-#
-type Ssh::Include = Variant[String[1],Array[String[1]]]