diff --git a/.github/workflows/arbitrator-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/arbitrator-ci.yml
index 7629150135..f5155b158b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/arbitrator-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/arbitrator-ci.yml
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v1
+        with:
+          token: ${{ secrets.PRIVATE_CHECKOUT }}
+          submodules: recursive
 
       - name: Install Ubuntu dependencies
         run: |
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index d798bfc2e4..2a63a7f0cc 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -4,3 +4,6 @@
 [submodule "fastcache"]
 	path = fastcache
 	url = git@github.com:OffchainLabs/fastcache.git
+[submodule "brotli"]
+	path = brotli
+	url = https://github.com/google/brotli.git
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 00650ed7ea..6a390827da 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -288,8 +288,8 @@ solgen/test/prover/proofs/%.json: arbitrator/prover/test-cases/%.wasm $(arbitrat
 	yarn --cwd solgen install
 	@touch $@
 
-.make/cbrotli-lib: | .make
-	@printf "%btesting cbrotli local build exists. If this step fails, see ./build-brotli.sh -l -h%b\n" $(color_pink) $(color_reset)
+.make/cbrotli-lib: brotli/c/** | .make
+	@printf "%btesting cbrotli local build exists. If this step fails, run ./build-brotli.sh -l%b\n" $(color_pink) $(color_reset)
 	test -f target/include/brotli/encode.h
 	test -f target/include/brotli/decode.h
 	test -f target/lib/libbrotlicommon-static.a
@@ -297,8 +297,8 @@ solgen/test/prover/proofs/%.json: arbitrator/prover/test-cases/%.wasm $(arbitrat
 	test -f target/lib/libbrotlidec-static.a
 	@touch $@
 
-.make/cbrotli-wasm: | .make
-	@printf "%btesting cbrotli wasm build exists. If this step fails, see ./build-brotli.sh -w -h%b\n" $(color_pink) $(color_reset)
+.make/cbrotli-wasm: brotli/c/** | .make
+	@printf "%btesting cbrotli wasm build exists. If this step fails, run ./build-brotli.sh -w%b\n" $(color_pink) $(color_reset)
 	test -f target/lib-wasm/libbrotlicommon-static.a
 	test -f target/lib-wasm/libbrotlienc-static.a
 	test -f target/lib-wasm/libbrotlidec-static.a
diff --git a/brotli b/brotli
new file mode 160000
index 0000000000..f4153a09f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/brotli
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit f4153a09f87cbb9c826d8fc12c74642bb2d879ea
diff --git a/build-brotli.sh b/build-brotli.sh
index 7083a0dc63..993e136305 100755
--- a/build-brotli.sh
+++ b/build-brotli.sh
@@ -9,9 +9,7 @@ BUILD_WASM=false
 BUILD_LOCAL=false
 USE_DOCKER=false
 TARGET_DIR=target/
-SOURCE_DIR=target/src/brotli
-COMMIT_ID=f4153a09f87cb # v1.0.9 + fixes required for cmake
-REPO_URL=https://github.com/google/brotli.git
+SOURCE_DIR=brotli
 
 usage(){
     echo "brotli builder for arbitrum"
@@ -19,17 +17,16 @@ usage(){
     echo "usage: $0 [options]"
     echo
     echo "use one or more of:"
-    echo " w     build wasm (uses emscripten)"
-    echo " l     build local"
+    echo " -w     build wasm (uses emscripten)"
+    echo " -l     build local"
     echo
     echo "to avoid dependencies you might want:"
-    echo " d     build inside docker container"
+    echo " -d     build inside docker container"
     echo
     echo "Other options:"
-    echo " s     source dir (will be created if doesn't exist) default: $SOURCE_DIR"
-    echo " t     target dir default: $TARGET_DIR"
-    echo " c     commit id (pass empty string to disable checkout) default: $COMMIT_ID"
-    echo " h     help"
+    echo " -s     source dir default: $SOURCE_DIR"
+    echo " -t     target dir default: $TARGET_DIR"
+    echo " -h     help"
     echo
     echo "all relative paths are relative to script location"
 }
@@ -55,9 +52,6 @@ while getopts "s:t:c:wldh" option; do
         s)
             SOURCE_DIR="$OPTARG"
             ;;
-        c)
-            COMMIT_ID="$OPTARG"
-            ;;
     esac
 done
 
@@ -82,20 +76,13 @@ if $USE_DOCKER; then
     exit 0
 fi
 
-if [ ! -d "$SOURCE_DIR" ]; then
-    git clone $REPO_URL "$SOURCE_DIR"
-fi
 cd "$SOURCE_DIR"
-if [ ! -z $COMMIT_ID ]; then
-    git checkout $COMMIT_ID
-fi
-
 if $BUILD_WASM; then
-    mkdir -p build-wasm
-    mkdir -p install-wasm
-    TEMP_INSTALL_DIR_ABS=`cd -P install-wasm; pwd`
-    cd build-wasm
-    cmake ../ -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=emcc -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=-fPIC -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$TEMP_INSTALL_DIR_ABS" -DCMAKE_AR=`which emar` -DCMAKE_RANLIB=`which touch`
+    mkdir -p buildfiles/build-wasm
+    mkdir -p buildfiles/install-wasm
+    TEMP_INSTALL_DIR_ABS=`cd -P buildfiles/install-wasm; pwd`
+    cd buildfiles/build-wasm
+    cmake ../../ -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=emcc -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=-fPIC -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$TEMP_INSTALL_DIR_ABS" -DCMAKE_AR=`which emar` -DCMAKE_RANLIB=`which touch`
     make -j
     make install
     cp -rv "$TEMP_INSTALL_DIR_ABS/lib" "$TARGET_DIR_ABS/lib-wasm"
@@ -103,9 +90,9 @@ if $BUILD_WASM; then
 fi
 
 if $BUILD_LOCAL; then
-    mkdir -p build-local
-    cd build-local
-    cmake ../ -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$TARGET_DIR_ABS"
+    mkdir -p buildfiles/build-local
+    cd buildfiles/build-local
+    cmake ../../ -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$TARGET_DIR_ABS"
     make -j
     make install
     cd ..