diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 7b9f0db..305873c 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -7,3 +7,15 @@
 [submodule "lib/cpp-feather-ini-parser"]
 	path = lib/cpp-feather-ini-parser
 	url = https://github.com/Turbine1991/cpp-feather-ini-parser.git
+[submodule "lib/boost-filesystem"]
+	path = lib/boost-filesystem
+	url = https://github.com/boostorg/filesystem.git
+[submodule "lib/lib/boost-regex"]
+	path = lib/lib/boost-regex
+	url = https://github.com/boostorg/regex.git
+[submodule "lib/boost-regex"]
+	path = lib/boost-regex
+	url = https://github.com/boostorg/regex.git
+[submodule "lib/boost-system"]
+	path = lib/boost-system
+	url = https://github.com/boostorg/system.git
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 86d9fd9..04ad536 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ add_definitions(-DLINUXDEPLOY_VERSION="${LINUXDEPLOY_VERSION}")
 
 set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/Modules/")
 
+set(USE_SYSTEM_BOOST OFF CACHE BOOL "Set to ON to use system boost libraries instead of building up to date boost libraries from source")
+
 add_subdirectory(lib)
 
 add_subdirectory(src)
diff --git a/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
index 202ebe3..f92a74a 100644
--- a/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,3 +13,17 @@ target_include_directories(cpp-feather-ini-parser INTERFACE cpp-feather-ini-pars
 add_executable(test_cpp_feather_ini_parser EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cpp-feather-ini-parser/example/example.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(test_cpp_feather_ini_parser PRIVATE cpp-feather-ini-parser)
 add_test(test_cpp_feather_ini_parser test_cpp_feather_ini_parser)
+
+if(NOT USE_SYSTEM_BOOST)
+    file(GLOB boost_system_srcs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boost-system/src/*.cpp)
+    add_library(Boost_system STATIC ${boost_system_srcs})
+    target_include_directories(Boost_system PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boost-system/include)
+
+    file(GLOB boost_filesystem_srcs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boost-filesystem/src/*.cpp)
+    add_library(Boost_filesystem STATIC ${boost_filesystem_srcs})
+    target_include_directories(Boost_filesystem PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boost-filesystem/include)
+
+    file(GLOB boost_regex_srcs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boost-regex/src/*.cpp)
+    add_library(Boost_regex STATIC ${boost_regex_srcs})
+    target_include_directories(Boost_regex PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boost-regex/include)
+endif()
diff --git a/lib/boost-filesystem b/lib/boost-filesystem
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..d8a6730
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/boost-filesystem
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit d8a6730d6ebab6da39c5f774e7c7ce966507901a
diff --git a/lib/boost-regex b/lib/boost-regex
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..5d990fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/boost-regex
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 5d990fd751a8c149dd47fbaf24eaaffd1bde3bd5
diff --git a/lib/boost-system b/lib/boost-system
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..6a71483
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/boost-system
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 6a71483984aaa651f0d2c199b5465df961154cff
diff --git a/src/core/CMakeLists.txt b/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
index 762b40d..ed8074f 100644
--- a/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,8 +5,14 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.6)
 # include headers to make CLion happy
 file(GLOB HEADERS ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/linuxdeploy/core/*.h)
 
-set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
-find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS filesystem regex)
+if(USE_SYSTEM_BOOST)
+    set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
+    find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS filesystem regex)
+    set(BOOST_LIBS Boost::filesystem Boost::regex)
+else()
+    # use custom built libs
+    set(BOOST_LIBS Boost_system Boost_filesystem Boost_regex)
+endif()
 
 find_package(Threads)
 
@@ -22,12 +28,11 @@ execute_process(
 )
 
 add_library(linuxdeploy_core STATIC elf.cpp log.cpp  appdir.cpp desktopfile.cpp ${HEADERS})
-target_link_libraries(linuxdeploy_core PUBLIC linuxdeploy_util Boost::filesystem Boost::regex subprocess cpp-feather-ini-parser PkgConfig::magick++ libmagic_static ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
+target_link_libraries(linuxdeploy_core PUBLIC linuxdeploy_util ${BOOST_LIBS} subprocess cpp-feather-ini-parser PkgConfig::magick++ libmagic_static ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
 target_include_directories(linuxdeploy_core PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
 target_include_directories(linuxdeploy_core PUBLIC ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
 target_compile_definitions(linuxdeploy_core PUBLIC -DBOOST_NO_CXX11_SCOPED_ENUMS)
 
 add_executable(linuxdeploy main.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(linuxdeploy linuxdeploy_core args)
-
 set_target_properties(linuxdeploy PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bin")