diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 2188771..7838e9b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ if(NOT TARGET PTHASH)
       target_compile_options(PTHASH INTERFACE -fsanitize=address -fno-omit-frame-pointer)
     endif()
   endif()
+
+  add_subdirectory(external/essentials)
+  target_link_libraries(PTHASH INTERFACE ESSENTIALS)
 endif()
 
 # Only add benchmarks and tests when compiling PTHash itself, not when added as a dependency
diff --git a/external/essentials b/external/essentials
index c8b84e0..6168ece 160000
--- a/external/essentials
+++ b/external/essentials
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit c8b84e0a3bc1d122e7c21de8e4d07b8b319d313c
+Subproject commit 6168ece5738563533c31d578f34b430f9ee1dd38
diff --git a/include/builders/search.hpp b/include/builders/search.hpp
index 911c54c..374f337 100644
--- a/include/builders/search.hpp
+++ b/include/builders/search.hpp
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #include <sstream>  // for stringbuf
 #include <atomic>   // for std::atomic
 #include <vector>
-#include "../../external/essentials/include/essentials.hpp"
+#include <essentials.hpp>
 
 #include "util.hpp"
 #include "../encoders/bit_vector.hpp"
diff --git a/include/encoders/bit_vector.hpp b/include/encoders/bit_vector.hpp
index 778b13c..77412e4 100644
--- a/include/encoders/bit_vector.hpp
+++ b/include/encoders/bit_vector.hpp
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 #include "util.hpp"
 
-#include "../../external/essentials/include/essentials.hpp"
+#include <essentials.hpp>
 
 namespace pthash {
 
diff --git a/include/encoders/compact_vector.hpp b/include/encoders/compact_vector.hpp
index 5b25dae..9c7a435 100644
--- a/include/encoders/compact_vector.hpp
+++ b/include/encoders/compact_vector.hpp
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <cmath>
 
-#include "../../external/essentials/include/essentials.hpp"
+#include <essentials.hpp>
 
 namespace pthash {
 
diff --git a/include/utils/util.hpp b/include/utils/util.hpp
index e864f5d..de03e66 100644
--- a/include/utils/util.hpp
+++ b/include/utils/util.hpp
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #include <chrono>
 #include <string>
 
-#include "../../external/essentials/include/essentials.hpp"
+#include <essentials.hpp>
 #include "../../external/fastmod/fastmod.h"
 
 #define PTHASH_LIKELY(expr) __builtin_expect((bool)(expr), true)
diff --git a/src/util.hpp b/src/util.hpp
index e096ca4..fa63a49 100644
--- a/src/util.hpp
+++ b/src/util.hpp
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #include "../include/utils/util.hpp"
-#include "../external/essentials/include/essentials.hpp"
+#include <essentials.hpp>
 
 namespace pthash {