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Abstract The high water-absorption of lightweight aggregate causes a high slump loss and poor workability of concrete. A prewetting process is usually recommended to compensate for the workability problem, but its application needs more delicate consideration in field. A method is proposed to measure the additional water absorption of lightweight aggregate, and its application in cement paste and concrete mixes confirms the absorption amount remaining unaffected by the mix proportion. The additional water absorption in cement-based materials can be considered as a material property, and its value is smaller than the water absorption measured by a standard test method (water-soaking). Compensating the additional water absorption finally allows to use dry lightweight aggregates for concrete, which is more robust and stabler than taking a saturated surface-dry lightweight aggregates.