diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4a25058a705b988a330fb2090267841aa7d9beb6..75129a9b63dfad30936b37609e707cdc41f52e05 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -98,10 +98,8 @@ id: t5ch3nfmdaa25ndlch7ucz7yztq8n1iaanv2d7iwiw4q5n65
 name: my_app
 main: src/main.zig
 dependencies:
-- type: git
-  path: https://github.com/Hejsil/zig-clap
-- type: git
-  path: https://github.com/alexnask/ctregex.zig
+- src: git https://github.com/Hejsil/zig-clap
+- src: git https://github.com/alexnask/ctregex.zig
   # ctregex.zig doesn't have a zig.mod file so we can manually
   # define its entry point. this can also be used generally to
   # override any attribute we want in this dependency.
@@ -124,6 +122,7 @@ dependencies:
 |------|------|------|-------------|
 | `type` | `string` | required, enum | One of `system_lib`, `git`, `hg`, `http` |
 | `path` | `string` | required | URL/path to this dependency. depends on the type |
+| `src` | `string` | Shorthand for the format `type path`. |
 | `version` | `string` | only on some types | pin this dependency at a specific version |
 | `only_os` | `string` | | comma separated list of OS names to add this Dep to |
 | `except_os` | `string` | | comma separated list of OS names to exclude this Dep from |
diff --git a/src/util/modfile.zig b/src/util/modfile.zig
index 3ca9779ee40221264b3cc48ffd7b1eb2756aa0ae..f0b03e7f474e2b910d1c058f1280f7b12a0dabd4 100644
--- a/src/util/modfile.zig
+++ b/src/util/modfile.zig
@@ -38,8 +38,16 @@ pub const ModFile = struct {
         if (doc.mapping.get("dependencies")) |dep_seq| {
             if (dep_seq == .sequence) {
                 for (dep_seq.sequence) |item| {
-                    const dtype = item.mapping.get("type").?.string;
-                    const path = item.mapping.get("path").?.string;
+                    var dtype: []const u8 = undefined;
+                    var path: []const u8 = undefined;
+                    if (item.mapping.get("src")) |val| {
+                        var src_iter = std.mem.split(val.string, " ");
+                        dtype = src_iter.next().?;
+                        path = src_iter.next().?;
+                    } else {
+                        dtype = item.mapping.get("type").?.string;
+                        path = item.mapping.get("path").?.string;
+                    }
                     const dep_type = std.meta.stringToEnum(u.DepType, dtype).?;
 
                     try dep_list.append(u.Dep{