diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index f9bf878..e69de29 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "submodules/dependencies"]
-	path = submodules/dependencies
-	url = ../dependencies
diff --git a/.zuul.yaml b/.zuul.yaml
index 01c9920..bed644a 100644
--- a/.zuul.yaml
+++ b/.zuul.yaml
@@ -10,15 +10,20 @@
         - f34-gcc-cover:
             pre-run: ci/pre.yaml
             requires: CzechLight-deps-f34-gcc
+            required-projects: &projects
+              - CzechLight/dependencies
         - f34-clang-asan-ubsan:
             pre-run: ci/pre.yaml
             requires: CzechLight-deps-f34-clang-asan-ubsan
+            required-projects: *projects
         - f34-clang-tsan:
             pre-run: ci/pre.yaml
             requires: CzechLight-deps-f34-clang-tsan
+            required-projects: *projects
         - f34-gcc-netconf-cli-no-sysrepo:
             pre-run: ci/pre.yaml
             requires: CzechLight-deps-f34-gcc
+            required-projects: *projects
         - f34-cpp-coverage-diff:
             pre-run: ci/pre.yaml
             voting: false
@@ -27,6 +32,7 @@
         - f34-gcc-cover-previous:
             pre-run: ci/pre.yaml
             requires: CzechLight-deps-f34-gcc
+            required-projects: *projects
         - czechlight-clearfog:
             required-projects:
               - CzechLight/br2-external
diff --git a/Doxyfile.in b/Doxyfile.in
index 250edfb..dbdefab 100644
--- a/Doxyfile.in
+++ b/Doxyfile.in
@@ -4,6 +4,5 @@
 INPUT = @doxy_main_page@ @PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR@ @PROJECT_BINARY_DIR@
 FILE_PATTERNS = *.h *.cpp *.md *.cmake *.yang
 RECURSIVE = YES
-EXCLUDE = @PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR@/submodules/
 EXTRACT_ANON_NSPACES = YES
 USE_MDFILE_AS_MAINPAGE = index.md
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8374eee..19afa58 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@
 * optionally, [sysrepo](https://github.com/sysrepo/sysrepo/) **version 2.1** plus the [C++ bindings](https://github.com/sysrepo/sysrepo-cpp) for the local sysrepo backend, and for the comprehensive test suite
 * optionally, [netopeer2](https://github.com/CESNET/netopeer2) **version 2.1** for a test suite
 
-Use an **exact commit** of any dependencies as specified in `submodules/dependencies/*`.
-
 The build process uses [CMake](https://cmake.org/runningcmake/).
 A quick-and-dirty build with no fancy options can be as simple as `mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && make && make install`.
 
diff --git a/ci/build.sh b/ci/build.sh
index 5d9228d..8fc78ea 100755
--- a/ci/build.sh
+++ b/ci/build.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 ZUUL_PROJECT_SHORT_NAME=$(jq < ~/zuul-env.json -r '.project.short_name')
 ZUUL_GERRIT_HOSTNAME=$(jq < ~/zuul-env.json -r '.project.canonical_hostname')
 
-CI_PARALLEL_JOBS=$(grep -c '^processor' /proc/cpuinfo)
+CI_PARALLEL_JOBS=$(awk -vcpu=$(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN) 'BEGIN{printf "%.0f", cpu*1.3+1}')
 CMAKE_OPTIONS=""
 CFLAGS=""
 CXXFLAGS=""
@@ -61,25 +61,19 @@
 mkdir ${PREFIX}
 BUILD_DIR=~/build
 mkdir ${BUILD_DIR}
-export PATH=${PREFIX}/bin:$PATH
+export PATH=${PREFIX}/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:$PATH
 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${PREFIX}/lib64:${PREFIX}/lib${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH}
 export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=${PREFIX}/lib64/pkgconfig:${PREFIX}/lib/pkgconfig:${PREFIX}/share/pkgconfig${PKG_CONFIG_PATH:+:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH}
 
 ARTIFACT_URL=$(jq < ~/zuul-env.json -r '[.artifacts[]? | select(.name == "tarball") | select(.project == "CzechLight/dependencies")][-1]?.url + ""')
 
-DEP_SUBMODULE_COMMIT=$(git ls-tree -l master submodules/dependencies | cut -d ' ' -f 3)
-
 if [[ -z "${ARTIFACT_URL}" ]]; then
-    # fallback to a promoted artifact
+    # nothing ahead in the pipeline -> fallback to the latest promoted artifact
+    DEPSRCDIR=$(jq < ~/zuul-env.json -e -r ".projects[] | select(.name == \"CzechLight/dependencies\").src_dir")
+    DEP_SUBMODULE_COMMIT=$(git --git-dir ${HOME}/${DEPSRCDIR}/.git rev-parse HEAD)
     ARTIFACT_URL="https://object-store.cloud.muni.cz/swift/v1/ci-artifacts-${ZUUL_TENANT}/${ZUUL_GERRIT_HOSTNAME}/CzechLight/dependencies/${ZUUL_JOB_NAME%%+(-cover?(-previous)|-netconf-cli-no-sysrepo)}/${DEP_SUBMODULE_COMMIT}.tar.zst"
 fi
 
-ARTIFACT_FILE=$(basename ${ARTIFACT_URL})
-DEP_HASH_FROM_ARTIFACT=$(echo "${ARTIFACT_FILE}" | sed -e 's/^czechlight-dependencies-//' -e 's/\.tar\.zst$//')
-if [[ "${DEP_HASH_FROM_ARTIFACT}" != "${DEP_SUBMODULE_COMMIT}" ]]; then
-    echo "Mismatched artifact: HEAD of ./submodules/dependencies does not match artifact commit ref"
-    exit 1
-fi
 curl ${ARTIFACT_URL} | unzstd --stdout | tar -C ${PREFIX} -xf -
 
 if [[ ${ZUUL_JOB_NAME} =~ .*-no-sysrepo ]]; then
diff --git a/submodules/dependencies b/submodules/dependencies
deleted file mode 160000
index 07f0bd8..0000000
--- a/submodules/dependencies
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 07f0bd86e8a12767e14ac5e3f51558e6d05e438a