diff --git a/.changeset/popular-grapes-drop.md b/.changeset/popular-grapes-drop.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b459802b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/popular-grapes-drop.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@lion/core': patch
+---
+
+Export forward compatible class based Directive in separate file like lit-html
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 09f5a7753..b360a7c33 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ yarn-error.log
 
 ## types
 *.d.ts
+!packages/core/directive.d.ts
 !packages/**/*/types/**/*
 !packages/**/index.d.ts
 !packages-node/**/*/types/**/*
diff --git a/packages/core/directive.d.ts b/packages/core/directive.d.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4a3003c91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/directive.d.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export { directive, Directive } from 'lit-html/directive.js';
diff --git a/packages/core/directive.js b/packages/core/directive.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4a3003c91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/directive.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export { directive, Directive } from 'lit-html/directive.js';
diff --git a/packages/core/index.js b/packages/core/index.js
index d1440401f..41902f84d 100644
--- a/packages/core/index.js
+++ b/packages/core/index.js
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ export {
   reparentNodes,
   removeNodes,
 } from 'lit-html';
-export { Directive } from 'lit-html/directive.js';
 export { asyncAppend } from 'lit-html/directives/async-append.js';
 export { asyncReplace } from 'lit-html/directives/async-replace.js';
 export { cache } from 'lit-html/directives/cache.js';
diff --git a/packages/core/package.json b/packages/core/package.json
index ea808e40e..bb5f7674d 100644
--- a/packages/core/package.json
+++ b/packages/core/package.json
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
   },
   "exports": {
     ".": "./index.js",
+    "./directive": "./directive.js",
     "./test-helpers": "./test-helpers/index.js",
     "./closestPolyfill": "./src/closestPolyfill.js",
     "./differentKeyEventNamesShimIE": "./src/differentKeyEventNamesShimIE.js",