diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-tip.yml b/.github/workflows/release-tip.yml
index 65229f1bc..81d2b633f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-tip.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-tip.yml
@@ -31,9 +31,6 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: recursive
-          fetch-depth: 0
 
       # Install Nix and use that to run our tests so our environment matches exactly.
       - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v23
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 8b1e4c1b6..d1997dbb5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -27,9 +27,6 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: recursive
-          fetch-depth: 0
 
       # Install Nix and use that to run our tests so our environment matches exactly.
       - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v23
@@ -50,9 +47,6 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: recursive
-          fetch-depth: 0
 
       # Install Nix and use that to run our tests so our environment matches exactly.
       - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v23
@@ -77,9 +71,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: recursive
-          fetch-depth: 0
+
       # This could be from a script if we wanted to but inlining here for now
       # in one place.
       # Using powershell so that we do not need to install WSL components. Also,
@@ -130,9 +122,6 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          submodules: recursive
-          fetch-depth: 0
 
       # Install Nix and use that to run our tests so our environment matches exactly.
       - uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v23
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 0e951e350..e69de29bb 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "vendor/harfbuzz"]
-	path = vendor/harfbuzz
-	url = https://github.com/harfbuzz/harfbuzz.git
-[submodule "vendor/libxml2"]
-	path = vendor/libxml2
-	url = https://github.com/GNOME/libxml2.git
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5db8f24ff..b469ff443 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,16 +1,7 @@
-# Init initializes the repo for development.
 init:
-	git submodule update --init --recursive
+	@echo You probably want to run "zig build" instead.
 .PHONY: init
 
-# Slightly cursed way that we setup a dev version of this locally on NixOS.
-dev/install:
-	zig build -Dcpu=baseline -Doptimize=ReleaseFast
-	if [ -f "/etc/NIXOS" ]; then patchelf --set-rpath "${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}" zig-out/bin/ghostty; fi
-	mkdir -p ${HOME}/bin
-	cp zig-out/bin/ghostty ${HOME}/bin/devtty
-.PHONY: dev/install
-
 # glad updates the GLAD loader. To use this, place the generated glad.zip
 # in this directory next to the Makefile, remove vendor/glad and run this target.
 #
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e5d379c98..4eaa1aac2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -282,12 +282,6 @@ closer to generally releasing this to ease downstream packagers. During
 development, I'm sticking to nightly Zig. You can find binary releases of nightly builds
 on the [Zig downloads page](https://ziglang.org/download/).
 
-Install dependencies by running `make`:
-
-```shell-session
-$ make
-```
-
 With Zig installed, a binary can be built using `zig build`:
 
 ```shell-session
diff --git a/pkg/apple-sdk/build.zig b/pkg/apple-sdk/build.zig
index 248fd5fea..1aae3088f 100644
--- a/pkg/apple-sdk/build.zig
+++ b/pkg/apple-sdk/build.zig
@@ -3,139 +3,11 @@ const std = @import("std");
 pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
     const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});
-
-    const lib = b.addStaticLibrary(.{
-        .name = "stub",
-        .target = target,
-        .optimize = optimize,
-    });
-    lib.linkLibC();
-    lib.addCSourceFiles(&.{"stub.c"}, &.{});
-    try addPaths(b, lib);
-
-    b.installArtifact(lib);
+    _ = target;
+    _ = optimize;
 }
 
-/// Add the necessary paths to the given compilation step for the Xcode SDK.
-///
-/// This is required to workaround a Zig issue where we can't depend directly
-/// on the hexops/xcode-frameworks repository: https://github.com/ziglang/zig/pull/15382
-///
-/// This is copied and adapted from hexops/mach. I modified it slightly
-/// for my own personal taste (nothing wrong with theirs!), but the logic
-/// is effectively identical.
 pub fn addPaths(b: *std.Build, step: *std.build.CompileStep) !void {
-    // branch: mach
-    try ensureGitRepoCloned(
-        b.allocator,
-        // WARNING: forked temporarily for https://github.com/hexops/xcode-frameworks/issues/4
-        "https://github.com/mitchellh/xcode-frameworks",
-        "983deb1ab8d03861db30ea297cc78e6d121da4db",
-        xSdkPath("/zig-cache/xcode_frameworks"),
-    );
-
-    // https://github.com/ziglang/zig/issues/17358
-    if (step.target.isNative()) b.sysroot = xSdkPath("/zig-cache/xcode_frameworks");
-
-    step.addSystemFrameworkPath(.{ .path = xSdkPath("/zig-cache/xcode_frameworks/Frameworks") });
-    step.addSystemIncludePath(.{ .path = xSdkPath("/zig-cache/xcode_frameworks/include") });
-    step.addLibraryPath(.{ .path = xSdkPath("/zig-cache/xcode_frameworks/lib") });
-}
-
-fn ensureGitRepoCloned(
-    allocator: std.mem.Allocator,
-    clone_url: []const u8,
-    revision: []const u8,
-    dir: []const u8,
-) !void {
-    if (envVarIsTruthy(allocator, "NO_ENSURE_SUBMODULES") or
-        envVarIsTruthy(allocator, "NO_ENSURE_GIT")) return;
-
-    ensureGit(allocator);
-
-    if (std.fs.openDirAbsolute(dir, .{})) |_| {
-        const current_revision = try currentGitRevision(allocator, dir);
-        if (!std.mem.eql(u8, current_revision, revision)) {
-            // Reset to the desired revision
-            exec(
-                allocator,
-                &[_][]const u8{ "git", "fetch" },
-                dir,
-            ) catch |err| std.debug.print(
-                "warning: failed to 'git fetch' in {s}: {s}\n",
-                .{ dir, @errorName(err) },
-            );
-            try exec(allocator, &[_][]const u8{ "git", "checkout", "--quiet", "--force", revision }, dir);
-            try exec(allocator, &[_][]const u8{ "git", "submodule", "update", "--init", "--recursive" }, dir);
-        }
-        return;
-    } else |err| return switch (err) {
-        error.FileNotFound => {
-            std.log.info("cloning required dependency..\ngit clone {s} {s}..\n", .{ clone_url, dir });
-            try exec(allocator, &[_][]const u8{ "git", "clone", "-c", "core.longpaths=true", clone_url, dir }, ".");
-            try exec(allocator, &[_][]const u8{ "git", "checkout", "--quiet", "--force", revision }, dir);
-            try exec(allocator, &[_][]const u8{ "git", "submodule", "update", "--init", "--recursive" }, dir);
-            return;
-        },
-        else => err,
-    };
-}
-
-fn exec(
-    allocator: std.mem.Allocator,
-    argv: []const []const u8,
-    cwd: []const u8,
-) !void {
-    var child = std.ChildProcess.init(argv, allocator);
-    child.cwd = cwd;
-    _ = try child.spawnAndWait();
-}
-
-fn currentGitRevision(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, cwd: []const u8) ![]const u8 {
-    const result = try std.ChildProcess.exec(.{
-        .allocator = allocator,
-        .argv = &.{ "git", "rev-parse", "HEAD" },
-        .cwd = cwd,
-    });
-    allocator.free(result.stderr);
-    if (result.stdout.len > 0) return result.stdout[0 .. result.stdout.len - 1]; // trim newline
-    return result.stdout;
-}
-
-fn ensureGit(allocator: std.mem.Allocator) void {
-    const argv = &[_][]const u8{ "git", "--version" };
-    const result = std.ChildProcess.exec(.{
-        .allocator = allocator,
-        .argv = argv,
-        .cwd = ".",
-    }) catch { // e.g. FileNotFound
-        std.log.err("mach: error: 'git --version' failed. Is git not installed?", .{});
-        std.process.exit(1);
-    };
-    defer {
-        allocator.free(result.stderr);
-        allocator.free(result.stdout);
-    }
-    if (result.term.Exited != 0) {
-        std.log.err("mach: error: 'git --version' failed. Is git not installed?", .{});
-        std.process.exit(1);
-    }
-}
-
-fn envVarIsTruthy(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, name: []const u8) bool {
-    if (std.process.getEnvVarOwned(allocator, name)) |truthy| {
-        defer allocator.free(truthy);
-        if (std.mem.eql(u8, truthy, "true")) return true;
-        return false;
-    } else |_| {
-        return false;
-    }
-}
-
-fn xSdkPath(comptime suffix: []const u8) []const u8 {
-    if (suffix[0] != '/') @compileError("suffix must be an absolute path");
-    return comptime blk: {
-        const root_dir = std.fs.path.dirname(@src().file) orelse ".";
-        break :blk root_dir ++ suffix;
-    };
+    _ = b;
+    @import("macos_sdk").addPaths(step);
 }
diff --git a/pkg/apple-sdk/build.zig.zon b/pkg/apple-sdk/build.zig.zon
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..784c13cf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/apple-sdk/build.zig.zon
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+.{
+    .name = "apple-sdk",
+    .version = "0.1.0",
+    .dependencies = .{
+        .macos_sdk = .{
+            .url = "https://github.com/mitchellh/zig-build-macos-sdk/archive/166ff65bb7688c0a08c4ea98166ec8300aa34128.tar.gz",
+            .hash = "1220bfe1b32491a3448dff55c1dc0c12aa573f1e5bdb0a962bfbadaaa59e4833798b",
+        },
+    },
+}
diff --git a/pkg/apple-sdk/stub.c b/pkg/apple-sdk/stub.c
deleted file mode 100644
index ce34f4ab0..000000000
--- a/pkg/apple-sdk/stub.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-// Blank on purpose
diff --git a/pkg/harfbuzz/build.zig b/pkg/harfbuzz/build.zig
index 2923f59ab..5e315347c 100644
--- a/pkg/harfbuzz/build.zig
+++ b/pkg/harfbuzz/build.zig
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
         .@"enable-libpng" = true,
     });
     const macos = b.dependency("macos", .{ .target = target, .optimize = optimize });
+    const upstream = b.dependency("harfbuzz", .{});
 
     const module = b.addModule("harfbuzz", .{
         .source_file = .{ .path = "main.zig" },
@@ -23,8 +24,6 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
         },
     });
 
-    const upstream_root = "../../vendor/harfbuzz";
-
     const lib = b.addStaticLibrary(.{
         .name = "harfbuzz",
         .target = target,
@@ -32,7 +31,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     });
     lib.linkLibC();
     lib.linkLibCpp();
-    lib.addIncludePath(.{ .path = upstream_root ++ "/src" });
+    lib.addIncludePath(upstream.path("src"));
 
     const freetype_dep = b.dependency("freetype", .{ .target = target, .optimize = optimize });
     lib.linkLibrary(freetype_dep.artifact("freetype"));
@@ -65,11 +64,11 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     }
 
     lib.addCSourceFile(.{
-        .file = .{ .path = upstream_root ++ "/src/harfbuzz.cc" },
+        .file = upstream.path("src/harfbuzz.cc"),
         .flags = flags.items,
     });
     lib.installHeadersDirectoryOptions(.{
-        .source_dir = .{ .path = upstream_root ++ "/src" },
+        .source_dir = upstream.path("src"),
         .install_dir = .header,
         .install_subdir = "",
         .include_extensions = &.{".h"},
diff --git a/pkg/harfbuzz/build.zig.zon b/pkg/harfbuzz/build.zig.zon
index 5609dab3e..2e6b34113 100644
--- a/pkg/harfbuzz/build.zig.zon
+++ b/pkg/harfbuzz/build.zig.zon
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
     .name = "harfbuzz",
     .version = "2.13.2",
     .dependencies = .{
+        .harfbuzz = .{
+            .url = "https://github.com/harfbuzz/harfbuzz/archive/refs/tags/8.2.1.tar.gz",
+            .hash = "12203c1b09a2cf778367376076301322235816598eaf0639da08b233ab852548df92",
+        },
+
         .freetype = .{ .path = "../freetype" },
         .macos = .{ .path = "../macos" },
         .apple_sdk = .{ .path = "../apple-sdk" },
diff --git a/pkg/libxml2/build.zig b/pkg/libxml2/build.zig
index 979021308..457a504bb 100644
--- a/pkg/libxml2/build.zig
+++ b/pkg/libxml2/build.zig
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
     const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});
 
-    const upstream_root = "../../vendor/libxml2";
+    const upstream = b.dependency("libxml2", .{});
 
     const lib = b.addStaticLibrary(.{
         .name = "xml2",
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     });
     lib.linkLibC();
 
-    lib.addIncludePath(.{ .path = upstream_root ++ "/include" });
+    lib.addIncludePath(upstream.path("include"));
     lib.addIncludePath(.{ .path = "override/include" });
     if (target.isWindows()) {
         lib.addIncludePath(.{ .path = "override/config/win32" });
@@ -96,14 +96,14 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
 
     inline for (srcs) |src| {
         lib.addCSourceFile(.{
-            .file = .{ .path = upstream_root ++ "/" ++ src },
+            .file = upstream.path(src),
             .flags = flags.items,
         });
     }
 
     lib.installHeader("override/include/libxml/xmlversion.h", "libxml/xmlversion.h");
     lib.installHeadersDirectoryOptions(.{
-        .source_dir = .{ .path = upstream_root ++ "/include" },
+        .source_dir = upstream.path("include"),
         .install_dir = .header,
         .install_subdir = "",
         .include_extensions = &.{".h"},
diff --git a/pkg/libxml2/build.zig.zon b/pkg/libxml2/build.zig.zon
index 403292ca3..5776b429e 100644
--- a/pkg/libxml2/build.zig.zon
+++ b/pkg/libxml2/build.zig.zon
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 .{
     .name = "libxml2",
     .version = "2.11.5",
-    .dependencies = .{},
+    .dependencies = .{
+        .libxml2 = .{
+            .url = "https://github.com/GNOME/libxml2/archive/refs/tags/v2.11.5.tar.gz",
+            .hash = "122032442d95c3b428ae8e526017fad881e7dc78eab4d558e9a58a80bfbd65a64f7d",
+        },
+    },
 }
diff --git a/vendor/harfbuzz b/vendor/harfbuzz
deleted file mode 160000
index 0967a3e24..000000000
--- a/vendor/harfbuzz
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 0967a3e24ab5d79cc55dbe224652d8aabd942def
diff --git a/vendor/libxml2 b/vendor/libxml2
deleted file mode 160000
index 58de9d31d..000000000
--- a/vendor/libxml2
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 58de9d31da4d0e8cb6bcf7f5e99714f9df2c4411