diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 55e8b71..fac13fc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ $ ./configure
 $ make -j
 ```
 
+Since no sensible functionality independent of cairo is implemented as of now,
+cairo is a hard dependency. On NixOS the included `shell.nix` script can be
+used to bring the dependencies and a couple of development tools intos cope.
+
 HTML documentation can be generated with `make html` if Doxygen is
 installed.
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 3b93605..7910fcd 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ AX_CHECK_COMPILE_FLAG([-std=c11],
     [ CFLAGS+=" -std=c11" ],
     [ AC_MSG_ERROR([C compiler doesn't support C11 mode])] )
 
+# Other tools
+AC_PROG_RANLIB
+AM_PROG_AR
+
 # Checks for header files.
 AC_CHECK_HEADERS([assert.h math.h stdint.h stdlib.h stdbool.h stdio.h])
 
@@ -32,13 +36,10 @@ AC_FUNC_MALLOC
 AC_FUNC_REALLOC
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([memmove memset mkdir pow strchr strdup strstr strtol])
 
-# User defined options: debug, lto
+# User defined options: debug
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([debug],
     [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-debug],[compile with debug options])],
     [debug=${enableval}], [debug=no])
-AC_ARG_ENABLE([lto],
-    [AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-lto], [disable link time optimization])],
-    [lto=${enableval}], [lto=yes])
 
 # Libraries
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES([CAIRO], [cairo])
@@ -52,19 +53,9 @@ if test x$debug = xyes; then
     CFLAGS+=" -ftrapv"
     CPPFLAGS+="-DDEBUG"
     YFLAGS+=" --debug -v"
-    lto=no
 else
     CFLAGS+=" -O3"
     CPPFLAGS+=" -DNDEBUG"
-    CFLAGS+=" -fomit-frame-pointer"
-    AX_CHECK_COMPILE_FLAG([-finline-limit=1000000 ],
-        [ CFLAGS+=" -finline-limit=1000000" ])
-fi
-
-if test x$lto = xyes; then
-    AX_CHECK_COMPILE_FLAG([-flto],
-        [ CFLAGS+=" -flto" ],
-        [ AC_MSG_WARN([C compiler doesn't support link time optimization])] )
 fi
 
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile src/Makefile])
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index 5b2684e..eb667e2 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -15,6 +15,6 @@ pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "hvif-light";
 
   hardeningDisable = [ "all" ];
-  buildInputs = with pkgs; [ autoconf automake gcc clang-tools gdb valgrind-light pkg-config cairo doxygen ];
+  buildInputs = with pkgs; [ autoconf automake gcc clang-tools gdb valgrind-light pkg-config cairo doxygen libtool ];
 
 }
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 22e34a3..4ddd30f 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 NULL =
 
 bin_PROGRAMS = hvif
+lib_LIBRARIES = libhviflight.a
 
 # hvif configuration
 hvif_CFLAGS = \
@@ -13,16 +14,36 @@ hvif_CPPFLAGS = \
 	$(NULL)
 hvif_LDADD = \
 	$(AM_LDADD) \
-	-lm \
 	$(CAIRO_LIBS) \
+	-lm \
+	libhviflight.a \
+	$(NULL)
+
+# libhviflight.a configuration
+libhviflight_a_CFLAGS = \
+	$(AM_CFLAGS) \
+	$(CAIRO_CFLAGS) \
+	$(NULL)
+libhviflight_a_CPPFLAGS = \
+	$(AM_CPPFLAGS) \
+	-I$(top_builddir)/src \
+	$(NULL)
+libhviflight_a_LIBADD = \
+	$(AM_LIBAD) \
+	$(NULL)
+
+libhviflight_a_SOURCES = \
+	$(BUILT_SOURCES) \
+	src/hvif-light.c \
+	src/hvif-light.h \
+	src/hvif-cairo.c \
+	src/hvif-cairo.h \
 	$(NULL)
 
 hvif_SOURCES = \
 	$(BUILT_SOURCES) \
 	src/main.c \
-	src/hvif-light.c \
 	src/hvif-light.h \
-	src/hvif-cairo.c \
 	src/hvif-cairo.h \
 	$(NULL)