diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c77749e8..0521d7e2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -86,6 +86,31 @@ if(STATIC_BUILD_DO_NOT_USE)
       CACHE BOOL "disable exception tracer")
 endif()
 
+if(NOT STATIC_BUILD_DO_NOT_USE)
+  find_package(fmt 8 CONFIG)
+endif()
+
+if(STATIC_BUILD_DO_NOT_USE OR NOT fmt_FOUND)
+  configure_file(CMakeLists.txt.fmtlib fmtlib-download/CMakeLists.txt)
+  execute_process(
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -G "${CMAKE_GENERATOR}" .
+    RESULT_VARIABLE result
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/fmtlib-download)
+  if(result)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "CMake step for fmtlib failed: ${result}")
+  endif()
+  execute_process(
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} --build .
+    RESULT_VARIABLE result
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/fmtlib-download)
+  if(result)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Build step for fmtlib failed: ${result}")
+  endif()
+  set(CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/fmtlib-install;${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH}")
+  include_directories(BEFORE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/fmtlib-install/include")
+  find_package(fmt 8 REQUIRED CONFIG PATHS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/fmtlib-install" NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
+endif()
+
 list(APPEND DWARFS_BOOST_MODULES date_time filesystem program_options system)
 
 if(WITH_PYTHON)
@@ -154,9 +179,6 @@ set(compiler_only
     ON
     CACHE BOOL "only build thrift compiler")
 
-# TODO: this is due to a bug in fbthrift's CMakeLists.txt
-find_package(fmt CONFIG REQUIRED)
-
 # TODO: this is due to a bug in folly's Portability.h
 add_compile_definitions(FOLLY_CFG_NO_COROUTINES)
 
@@ -771,7 +793,7 @@ add_custom_target(
     rm -rf CMake* CPack* CTest* Makefile Testing bin lib man folly fbthrift
     thrift zstd dwarfs* mkdwarfs mount.dwarfs mount.dwarfs2 lib*.a *.cmake
     googletest-* _CPack_Packages install_manifest.txt share build.ninja
-    compile_commands.json .ninja_* man1 man5 libarchive)
+    compile_commands.json .ninja_* rules.ninja man1 man5 libarchive fmtlib*)
 
 install(
   TARGETS ${BINARY_TARGETS}
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt.fmtlib b/CMakeLists.txt.fmtlib
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9de9c648
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt.fmtlib
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13.4)
+
+project(fmtlib-download NONE)
+
+include(ExternalProject)
+
+ExternalProject_Add(
+  fmtlib
+  PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/fmtlib
+  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git
+  GIT_TAG 8.1.1
+  CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER}
+             -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/fmtlib-install
+             -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5314dd43..e8875745 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -254,14 +254,6 @@ $ apt install ccache ninja libacl1-dev
 ```
 
 `ccache` and `ninja` are optional, but help with a speedy compile.
-Next, we need to build and install a static library for libfmt:
-
-```
-$ git clone https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt
-$ cd fmt && mkdir build && cd build
-$ cmake .. -GNinja && ninja && sudo ninja install
-```
-
 That's it! Now you can try building static binaries for DwarFS:
 
 ```