diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3ba3410075..60a8618f46 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -196,6 +196,9 @@ option(NBL_BUILD_BULLET "Enable Bullet Physics building and integration?" OFF)
 option(NBL_BUILD_DOCS "Enable building documentation?" OFF) # No one has doxygen installed, plus we dont know when was the last time we generated working doxy and we'll use SphinX in the future
 option(NBL_ENABLE_PROJECT_JSON_CONFIG_VALIDATION "" ON)
 option(NBL_EMBED_BUILTIN_RESOURCES "Embed built-in resources?" OFF)
+set(NBL_NSC_MODE "PACKAGE" CACHE STRING "How to provide the nsc build tool. Valid values: SOURCE and PACKAGE")
+set_property(CACHE NBL_NSC_MODE PROPERTY STRINGS SOURCE PACKAGE)
+option(NBL_NSC_USE_PACKAGE_BUILTINS "When NBL_NSC_MODE=PACKAGE, use builtin resources embedded in the packaged nsc instead of host checkout builtins." OFF)
 option(NBL_ENABLE_DOCKER_INTEGRATION "Enables docker integration, if client is not found Docker Desktop will be installed" OFF)
 option(NBL_ENABLE_CONFIG_INSTALL "Install Relocatable NablaConfig.cmake and NablaConfigVersion.cmake scripts" ON)
 
diff --git a/cmake/FindZLIB.cmake b/cmake/FindZLIB.cmake
index f855c396b9..73c79e628a 100644
--- a/cmake/FindZLIB.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindZLIB.cmake
@@ -4,4 +4,5 @@ endif()
 
 set(ZLIB_FOUND TRUE)
 set(ZLIB_LIBRARY ZLIB::ZLIB)
-set(ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR "${THIRD_PARTY_SOURCE_DIR}/zlib;${THIRD_PARTY_BINARY_DIR}/zlib")
\ No newline at end of file
+set(ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR "${THIRD_PARTY_SOURCE_DIR}/zlib;${THIRD_PARTY_BINARY_DIR}/zlib")
+set(ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS "${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}")
diff --git a/cmake/common.cmake b/cmake/common.cmake
index c50e1f6fb2..234698fc3d 100755
--- a/cmake/common.cmake
+++ b/cmake/common.cmake
@@ -1254,7 +1254,16 @@ struct DeviceConfigCaps
 	    list(APPEND REQUIRED_OPTIONS $<$<CONFIG:Debug,RelWithDebInfo>:-fspv-debug=vulkan-with-source>)
 	endif()
 
-	if(NOT NBL_EMBED_BUILTIN_RESOURCES)
+	set(_NBL_NSC_USE_HOST_BUILTINS FALSE)
+	if(NBL_NSC_MODE STREQUAL "PACKAGE")
+		if(NOT NBL_NSC_USE_PACKAGE_BUILTINS)
+			set(_NBL_NSC_USE_HOST_BUILTINS TRUE)
+		endif()
+	elseif(NOT NBL_EMBED_BUILTIN_RESOURCES)
+		set(_NBL_NSC_USE_HOST_BUILTINS TRUE)
+	endif()
+
+	if(_NBL_NSC_USE_HOST_BUILTINS)
 		list(APPEND REQUIRED_OPTIONS
 			-no-nbl-builtins
 			-isystem "${NBL_ROOT_PATH}/include"
@@ -1263,6 +1272,7 @@ struct DeviceConfigCaps
 			-isystem "${NBL_ROOT_PATH_BINARY}/src/nbl/device/include"
 		)
 	endif()
+	unset(_NBL_NSC_USE_HOST_BUILTINS)
 
     set(REQUIRED_SINGLE_ARGS TARGET BINARY_DIR OUTPUT_VAR INPUTS INCLUDE NAMESPACE MOUNT_POINT_DEFINE)
     set(OPTIONAL_SINGLE_ARGS GLOB_DIR)
diff --git a/tools/nsc/CMakeLists.txt b/tools/nsc/CMakeLists.txt
index 36da743982..e8549eb281 100644
--- a/tools/nsc/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tools/nsc/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ if(NOT NBL_NSC_MODE MATCHES "^(SOURCE|PACKAGE)$")
 	message(FATAL_ERROR "Invalid NBL_NSC_MODE=\"${NBL_NSC_MODE}\". Valid values are SOURCE and PACKAGE.")
 endif()
 
+if(NBL_NSC_USE_PACKAGE_BUILTINS AND NOT NBL_NSC_MODE STREQUAL "PACKAGE")
+	message(FATAL_ERROR "NBL_NSC_USE_PACKAGE_BUILTINS=ON requires NBL_NSC_MODE=PACKAGE.")
+endif()
+
 if(NBL_ENABLE_CONFIG_INSTALL)
 	configure_file(
 		"${NBL_ROOT_PATH}/cmake/NablaNSCHelpers.cmake"