diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 5f1c90683..f0b96ce4e 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 [submodule "vm/compat/libraries/win-c/src"]
 	path = vm/compat/libraries/win-c/src
 	url = https://github.com/takamin/win-c
+[submodule "external/bpf_conformance"]
+	path = external/bpf_conformance
+	url = https://github.com/Alan-Jowett/bpf_conformance.git
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index dbc5a48d5..d110ef58c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,16 +21,16 @@ if(UBPF_ENABLE_TESTS)
 endif()
 
 add_subdirectory("vm")
+    ExternalProject_Add(Conformance
+        INSTALL_COMMAND ""
+        SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/external/bpf_conformance
+				BINARY_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/external/bpf_conformance
+        EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL true
+        STEP_TARGETS build)
 
 if(UBPF_ENABLE_TESTS)
   add_subdirectory("ubpf_plugin")
   if (NOT UBPF_SKIP_EXTERNAL)
-    ExternalProject_Add(Conformance GIT_REPOSITORY "https://github.com/Alan-Jowett/bpf_conformance.git"
-        GIT_SUBMODULES_RECURSE true
-        GIT_TAG main
-        INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-        BINARY_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/external/bpf_conformance
-        SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/external/bpf_conformance)
   endif()
   add_subdirectory("bpf")
   add_subdirectory("aarch64_test")
diff --git a/external/bpf_conformance b/external/bpf_conformance
new file mode 160000
index 000000000..063f441fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/external/bpf_conformance
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 063f441fa75f0af3eb592f7aa315d27224ec7414
diff --git a/ubpf_plugin/CMakeLists.txt b/ubpf_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
index b7f9345ca..5a9de1ef9 100644
--- a/ubpf_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ubpf_plugin/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 # Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+if (UBPF_SKIP_EXTERNAL)
+    message(WARNING "Skipping configuration of tests that require external package support.")
+    return()
+endif()
+
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
 
 file(COPY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests DESTINATION ${CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY})
@@ -10,6 +15,8 @@ add_executable(
     ubpf_plugin.cc
 )
 
+add_dependencies(ubpf_plugin Conformance-build)
+
 target_include_directories("ubpf_plugin" PRIVATE
     "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/vm"
     "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/vm"