diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 061ac091017b3a1691f34ab5847d16c67daba93d..4f0ab6a19b953d7b2297623b44e9bb7aa941cf6c 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ jobs:
       - run: zig version
       - run: zig env
       - run: apk add jq grep
-      - run: apk add yaml-dev
       - run: ./build_all_zig.sh
       - store_artifacts:
           path: ./zig-cache/bin/
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 5c7c9168f48f8e374e8b0eb8ce71cfd73caea851..28c2232e1aeca82de861cc5a478a2f67d04cd02b 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -21,7 +21,20 @@ pub fn build(b: *Builder) void {
     exe.linkLibC();
 
     exe.addIncludeDir("./libs/yaml/include");
-    exe.linkSystemLibrary("yaml");
+    exe.addCSourceFile("./libs/yaml/src/api.c", &[_][]const u8{
+        // taken from https://github.com/yaml/libyaml/blob/0.2.5/CMakeLists.txt#L5-L8
+        "-DYAML_VERSION_MAJOR=0",
+        "-DYAML_VERSION_MINOR=2",
+        "-DYAML_VERSION_PATCH=5",
+        "-DYAML_VERSION_STRING=\"0.2.5\"",
+    });
+    exe.addCSourceFile("./libs/yaml/src/dumper.c", &[_][]const u8{});
+    exe.addCSourceFile("./libs/yaml/src/emitter.c", &[_][]const u8{});
+    exe.addCSourceFile("./libs/yaml/src/loader.c", &[_][]const u8{});
+    exe.addCSourceFile("./libs/yaml/src/parser.c", &[_][]const u8{});
+    exe.addCSourceFile("./libs/yaml/src/reader.c", &[_][]const u8{});
+    exe.addCSourceFile("./libs/yaml/src/scanner.c", &[_][]const u8{});
+    exe.addCSourceFile("./libs/yaml/src/writer.c", &[_][]const u8{});
 
     exe.addPackagePath("known-folders", "./libs/zig-known-folders/known-folders.zig");