diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7a9733e..0a9944c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@
 Cargo.lock
 .idea
 jtd-codegen
+minecraft-data
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
deleted file mode 100644
index acac9a5..0000000
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "minecraft-data"]
-	path = minecraft-data
-	url = git@github.com:PrismarineJS/minecraft-data.git
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c246a4a..9c9edfa 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "minecraft-data-rs"
-version = "0.8.0"
+version = "0.8.1"
 authors = ["trivernis <trivernis@protonmail.com>"]
 edition = "2021"
 readme = "README.md"
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ license = "MIT"
 description = "A wrapper for minecraft-data"
 repository = "https://github.com/Trivernis/minecraft-data-rs"
 
-# See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html
+[package.metadata]
+minecraft_data_repo = "https://github.com/PrismarineJS/minecraft-data.git"
+minecraft_data_commit = "46b78398b6f351958e02fbd266424f0ee0ab138b"
 
 [dependencies]
 thiserror = "1.0.38"
@@ -19,7 +21,14 @@ include_dir = { version = "0.7.3", optional = true }
 itertools = { version = "0.10.5", optional = true }
 lazy_static = { version = "1.4.0", optional = true }
 
+[build-dependencies]
+git2 = {version = "0.18.2", optional = true}
+dirs = {version = "5.0.1", optional = true}
+cargo_toml = {version = "0.19.1", optional = true}
+serde = { version = "1.0.151", features = ["derive"], optional = true }
+
 [features]
 default = ["include-data", "api"]
-include-data = ["include_dir", "itertools", "lazy_static"]
+include-data = ["include_dir", "itertools", "lazy_static", "git2", "dirs", "cargo_toml", "serde/derive"]
 api = ["include-data"]
+
diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8861d15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+#[cfg(not(feature = "include-data"))]
+fn main() {}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "include-data")]
+fn main() {
+    data_repo::init_repo();
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "include-data")]
+mod data_repo {
+    use std::{env, fs, path::PathBuf};
+
+    use cargo_toml::Manifest;
+    use git2::{Oid, Repository};
+    use serde::Deserialize;
+
+    #[derive(Clone, Debug, Deserialize)]
+    struct Metadata {
+        minecraft_data_repo: String,
+        minecraft_data_commit: String,
+    }
+
+    pub fn init_repo() {
+        println!("cargo:rerun-if-env-changed=MINECRAFT_DATA_REPO_PATH");
+        println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=Cargo.toml");
+
+        let manifest = Manifest::<Metadata>::from_path_with_metadata(PathBuf::from("Cargo.toml"))
+            .expect("Failed to read manifest (Cargo.toml)");
+        let metadata = manifest
+            .package
+            .expect("missing package info in Cargo.toml")
+            .metadata
+            .expect("missing package.metadata in Cargo.toml");
+
+        let repo_path = env::var("MINECRAFT_DATA_REPO_PATH")
+            .map(PathBuf::from)
+            .ok()
+            .or_else(|| dirs::cache_dir().map(|p| p.join("minecraft-data")))
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| PathBuf::from("minecraft-data"));
+
+        println!(
+            "cargo:rustc-env=MINECRAFT_DATA_PATH_INTERNAL={}",
+            repo_path.to_string_lossy()
+        );
+
+        let version_oid = Oid::from_str(&metadata.minecraft_data_commit).expect("invalid oid");
+
+        let repo = if repo_path.exists() {
+            let repo = Repository::open(&repo_path).expect("failed to open git repo");
+            let head_oid = repo
+                .head()
+                .expect("no head found in repo")
+                .peel_to_commit()
+                .expect("head is not a commit")
+                .as_object()
+                .id();
+            if head_oid != version_oid {
+                fs::remove_dir_all(&repo_path).expect("could not delete repository");
+                Repository::clone(&metadata.minecraft_data_repo, repo_path)
+                    .expect("failed to clone repo")
+            } else {
+                repo
+            }
+        } else {
+            Repository::clone(&metadata.minecraft_data_repo, repo_path)
+                .expect("failed to clone repo")
+        };
+
+        repo.set_head_detached(version_oid)
+            .expect("failed set head");
+        repo.checkout_head(None).expect("failed checkout index")
+    }
+}
diff --git a/minecraft-data b/minecraft-data
deleted file mode 160000
index 46b7839..0000000
--- a/minecraft-data
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 46b78398b6f351958e02fbd266424f0ee0ab138b
diff --git a/src/data/mod.rs b/src/data/mod.rs
index fb44ee6..a49c7f8 100644
--- a/src/data/mod.rs
+++ b/src/data/mod.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use crate::models::version::Version;
 use crate::{DataError, DataResult};
 use include_dir::Dir;
 
-pub static MINECRAFT_DATA: Dir = include_dir::include_dir!("minecraft-data/data");
+pub static MINECRAFT_DATA: Dir = include_dir::include_dir!("$MINECRAFT_DATA_PATH_INTERNAL/data");
 
 pub static BIOMES_FILE: &str = "biomes";
 pub static BLOCK_LOOT_FILE: &str = "blockLoot";
@@ -69,11 +69,7 @@ pub fn get_path(version: &Version, filename: &str) -> DataResult<String> {
         .pc
         .get(&version.minecraft_version)
         // fallback to major version
-        .or_else(||
-            PATHS
-            .pc
-            .get(&version.major_version)
-        )
+        .or_else(|| PATHS.pc.get(&version.major_version))
         .ok_or_else(|| DataError::NotFoundError(version.minecraft_version.clone()))?
         .get(filename)
         .cloned()