--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
 	set(DLIB_USE_MKL_FFT OFF)
 	set(DLIB_USE_FFMPEG OFF)
 	set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17) # dlib must be compiled with C++17
-	FetchContent_MakeAvailable(dlib)
+	add_subdirectory(dlib)
 	set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20) # continue with C++20	
 	add_compile_definitions("DLIB_AVAILABLE")
 endif()
@@ -141,7 +141,6 @@
 		thread_pool
 		GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/bshoshany/thread-pool
 	)
-	FetchContent_MakeAvailable(thread_pool)
 endif()
 
 if(USE_SYSTEM_GCEM)
@@ -151,7 +150,6 @@
 		gcem
 		GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/klytje/gcem
 	)
-	FetchContent_MakeAvailable(GCEM)
 endif()
 
 set_property(
@@ -160,7 +158,9 @@
 )
 unset(compile_options)
 
-include_directories(${thread_pool_SOURCE_DIR}/include ${gcem_SOURCE_DIR}/include ${backward_SOURCE_DIR})
+include_directories(${backward_SOURCE_DIR})
+add_subdirectory(gcem)
+include_directories(thread_pool/include gcem/include)
 
 ############################################
 ##           Find and link CURL           ##
--- a/executable/gui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/executable/gui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 	nfd
 	GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/btzy/nativefiledialog-extended.git
 )
-FetchContent_MakeAvailable(elements CLI11 nfd)
+find_package(CLI11 CONFIG REQUIRED)
+add_subdirectory(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/elements elements_build)
+add_subdirectory(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/nfd nfd_build)
 
 # set the path to the elements root & module path
 set(ELEMENTS_ROOT "${elements_SOURCE_DIR}")