diff --git a/cmake/dependencies.cmake b/cmake/dependencies.cmake
index ea133a3..916606c 100644
--- a/cmake/dependencies.cmake
+++ b/cmake/dependencies.cmake
@@ -224,21 +224,23 @@ if(NOT USE_SYSTEM_XZ)
         LIBRARY_DIRS <INSTALL_DIR>/lib/
         LIBRARIES "<INSTALL_DIR>/lib/liblzma.a"
         INCLUDE_DIRS "<SOURCE_DIR>/src/liblzma/api/"
     )
 else()
     message(STATUS "Using system xz")
 
     import_pkgconfig_target(TARGET_NAME xz PKGCONFIG_TARGET liblzma STATIC)
 endif()
 
+set(USE_SYSTEM_SQUASHFUSE OFF CACHE BOOL "Use system squashfuse instead of building our own")
 
+if(NOT USE_SYSTEM_SQUASHFUSE)
 # as distros don't provide suitable squashfuse and squashfs-tools, those dependencies are bundled in, can, and should
 # be used from this repository
 # TODO: implement out-of-source builds for squashfuse, as for the other dependencies
 configure_file(
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/patch-squashfuse.sh.in
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/patch-squashfuse.sh
     @ONLY
 )
 
 ExternalProject_Add(squashfuse-EXTERNAL
@@ -259,20 +261,34 @@ ExternalProject_Add(squashfuse-EXTERNAL
     BUILD_IN_SOURCE ON
     INSTALL_COMMAND ${MAKE} install
 )
 
 import_external_project(
     TARGET_NAME squashfuse
     EXT_PROJECT_NAME squashfuse-EXTERNAL
     LIBRARIES "<SOURCE_DIR>/.libs/libsquashfuse.a;<SOURCE_DIR>/.libs/libsquashfuse_ll.a;<SOURCE_DIR>/.libs/libfuseprivate.a"
     INCLUDE_DIRS "<SOURCE_DIR>"
 )
+else()
+    message(STATUS "Using system squashfsfuse from ${SQUASHFUSE}")
+
+    add_library(squashfuse INTERFACE IMPORTED GLOBAL)
+
+    set(squashfuse_INCLUDE_DIRS "${SQUASHFUSE}/include")
+    set(squashfuse_LIBRARIES "${SQUASHFUSE}/lib/libsquashfuse.a;${SQUASHFUSE}/lib/libsquashfuse_ll.a;${SQUASHFUSE}/lib/libfuseprivate.a")
+
+    set_property(
+      TARGET squashfuse
+      PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES ${squashfuse_LIBRARIES}
+    )
+    include_directories(${squashfuse_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+endif()
 
 
 set(USE_SYSTEM_INOTIFY_TOOLS OFF CACHE BOOL "Use system libinotifytools instead of building our own")
 
 if(NOT USE_SYSTEM_INOTIFY_TOOLS)
     message(STATUS "Downloading and building inotify-tools")
 
     # TODO: build out of source
     ExternalProject_Add(inotify-tools-EXTERNAL
         URL https://github.com/downloads/rvoicilas/inotify-tools/inotify-tools-3.14.tar.gz
@@ -345,20 +361,23 @@ if(NOT USE_SYSTEM_GTEST)
             INCLUDE_DIRS "<INSTALL_DIR>/include/"
         )
     else()
         message(STATUS "Using system GTest")
 
         import_find_pkg_target(gtest GTest GTEST)
     endif()
 endif()
 
 
+set(USE_SYSTEM_MKSQUASHFS OFF CACHE BOOL "Use system mksquashfs instead of downloading and building our own")
+
+if(NOT USE_SYSTEM_MKSQUASHFS)
 # TODO: allow using system wide mksquashfs
 set(mksquashfs_cflags "-DXZ_SUPPORT ${CFLAGS}")
 
 if(xz_LIBRARIES MATCHES "\\.a$")
     set(mksquashfs_ldflags "${xz_LIBRARIES}")
 else()
     set(mksquashfs_ldflags "-l${xz_LIBRARIES}")
 endif()
 
 if(xz_INCLUDE_DIRS)
@@ -385,20 +404,25 @@ ExternalProject_Add(mksquashfs
     INSTALL_COMMAND ${MAKE} -C squashfs-tools/ install INSTALL_DIR=<INSTALL_DIR>
 )
 
 ExternalProject_Get_Property(mksquashfs INSTALL_DIR)
 set(mksquashfs_INSTALL_DIR "${INSTALL_DIR}")
 mark_as_advanced(mksquashfs_INSTALL_DIR)
 
 # for later use when packaging as an AppImage
 set(mksquashfs_BINARY "${mksquashfs_INSTALL_DIR}/mksquashfs")
 mark_as_advanced(mksquashfs_BINARY)
+else()
+    message(STATUS "Using system mksquashfs")
+
+    set(mksquashfs_BINARY "mksquashfs")
+endif()
 
 
 #### build dependency configuration ####
 
 # only have to build custom xz when not using system libxz
 if(TARGET xz-EXTERNAL)
     if(TARGET squashfuse-EXTERNAL)
         ExternalProject_Add_StepDependencies(squashfuse-EXTERNAL configure xz-EXTERNAL)
     endif()
     if(TARGET mksquashfs)
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 3f25442..974ed0e 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -197,27 +197,27 @@ target_include_directories(digest_md5
 
 target_link_libraries(digest_md5
     PRIVATE
     libglib
 )
 
 
 # install binaries
 if(AUXILIARY_FILES_DESTINATION)
     install(
-        PROGRAMS ${mksquashfs_INSTALL_DIR}/mksquashfs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/runtime
+        PROGRAMS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/runtime
         DESTINATION ${AUXILIARY_FILES_DESTINATION}
         COMPONENT applications
     )
 else()
     install(
-        PROGRAMS ${mksquashfs_INSTALL_DIR}/mksquashfs ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/runtime
+        PROGRAMS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/runtime
         DESTINATION bin
         COMPONENT applications
     )
 endif()
 
 install(
     TARGETS AppRun appimagetool digest validate
     RUNTIME DESTINATION bin COMPONENT applications
     LIBRARY DESTINATION lib COMPONENT applications
     ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib/static COMPONENT applications
diff --git a/src/shared.c b/src/shared.c
index cf5fd5c..4f48dbc 100644
--- a/src/shared.c
+++ b/src/shared.c
@@ -34,21 +34,21 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 
 #include <glib.h>
 #include <glib/gprintf.h>
 #include <glib/gstdio.h>
 #include <gio/gio.h>
 
-#include "squashfuse.h"
+#include <squashfuse.h>
 #include <squashfs_fs.h>
 #include "getsection.h"
 #include "elf.h"
 
 #include "xdg-basedir.h"
 
 // own header
 #include "shared.h"
 
 #if HAVE_LIBARCHIVE3 == 1 // CentOS