--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
 CXX ?= g++
 
 # pkg-config for protobuf can be expensive/slow
-# Skip pkg-config for: clean, indent, kafel_init, and kafel-only builds
-ifneq ($(filter-out clean indent kafel_init kafel/libkafel.a,$(MAKECMDGOALS)),)
+# Skip pkg-config for: clean and indent
+ifneq ($(filter-out clean indent,$(MAKECMDGOALS)),)
 PROTOBUF_CFLAGS := $(shell pkg-config --cflags protobuf)
 PROTOBUF_LIBS   := $(shell pkg-config --libs protobuf)
 else ifeq ($(MAKECMDGOALS),)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 NL3_EXISTS := $(shell pkg-config --exists libnl-route-3.0 && echo yes)
 
-COMMON_FLAGS += -c -D_GNU_SOURCE -Ikafel/include
+COMMON_FLAGS += -c -D_GNU_SOURCE $(shell pkg-config --cflags kafel)
 
 CXXFLAGS += $(USER_DEFINES) $(COMMON_FLAGS) $(PROTOBUF_CFLAGS) \
 	-std=c++20 -fno-exceptions
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 endif
 
 BIN = nsjail
-LIBS = kafel/libkafel.a
+LIBS = $(shell pkg-config --libs kafel)
 
 # If PASTA_BIN_PATH is not provided in env, dynamically search for it if EMBED_PASTA is requested
 # or fallback to it naturally.
@@ -67,16 +67,16 @@
 
 # 4. TARGETS
 
-.PHONY: all clean depend indent kafel_init
+.PHONY: all clean depend indent
 
 all: $(BIN)
 
 # Main Binary Linkage
-$(BIN): $(LIBS) $(OBJS)
+$(BIN): $(OBJS)
 ifneq ($(NL3_EXISTS), yes)
 	$(warning "You probably miss libnl3(-dev)/libnl-route-3(-dev) libraries")
 endif
-	$(CXX) -o $(BIN) $(OBJS) $(LIBS) $(LDFLAGS)
+	$(CXX) -o $(BIN) $(OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) $(LIBS)
 
 # Standard Object Compilation
 # The | $(SRCS_PB_H) ensures headers exist before we try to compile .cc files
@@ -91,23 +91,9 @@
 # The .h file is a side-effect of the .cc rule
 $(SRCS_PB_H): $(SRCS_PB_CXX)
 
-# Kafel Submodule Handling
-kafel_init:
-ifeq ("$(wildcard kafel/Makefile)","")
-	git submodule update --init
-endif
-
-kafel/include/kafel.h: kafel_init
-
-kafel/libkafel.a: kafel_init
-	+LDFLAGS="" CFLAGS=-fPIE $(MAKE) -C kafel
-
 # Utilities
 clean:
 	$(RM) core Makefile.bak $(OBJS) $(SRCS_PB_CXX) $(SRCS_PB_H) $(SRCS_PB_O) $(BIN)
-ifneq ("$(wildcard kafel/Makefile)","")
-	+$(MAKE) -C kafel clean
-endif
 
 depend: all
 	makedepend -Y -Ykafel/include -- -- $(SRCS_CXX) $(SRCS_PB_CXX)
@@ -205,7 +191,7 @@
 nsjail.o: nsjail.h config.pb.h cgroup2.h cmdline.h logs.h macros.h net.h
 nsjail.o: sandbox.h subproc.h util.h
 pid.o: pid.h nsjail.h config.pb.h logs.h subproc.h
-sandbox.o: sandbox.h nsjail.h config.pb.h kafel/include/kafel.h logs.h util.h
+sandbox.o: sandbox.h nsjail.h config.pb.h logs.h util.h
 subproc.o: subproc.h nsjail.h config.pb.h cgroup.h cgroup2.h contain.h logs.h
 subproc.o: macros.h net.h sandbox.h user.h util.h
 uts.o: uts.h nsjail.h config.pb.h logs.h