diff --git a/.cargo/config.toml b/.cargo/config.toml
index 3fe4469e5..a9b0b23cc 100644
--- a/.cargo/config.toml
+++ b/.cargo/config.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
 [alias]
 blog = ["run", "--package", "generate_blog"]
-zola = ["run", "--manifest-path", "zola/Cargo.toml", "--"]
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 02aad2efe..a5a91610e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -28,15 +28,13 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4
-        with:
-          submodules: true
 
       - run: rustup override set ${{ env.RUST_VERSION }}
       - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@98c8021b550208e191a6a3145459bfc9fb29c4c0 # v2.8.0
-        with:
-          workspaces: ".\nzola" # needed to cache build of zola in ./zola/target
+      - name: Install Zola
+        run: cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/getzola/zola --rev 45d3f8d6285f0b47013c5fa31eb405332118af8b
 
-      - run: cargo zola build
+      - run: zola build
       - run: cp CNAME ./public/
       - run: touch public/.nojekyll
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/snapshot_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/snapshot_tests.yml
index 7cb5ca6e4..ee9308f4b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/snapshot_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/snapshot_tests.yml
@@ -12,12 +12,10 @@ jobs:
     if: contains(github.event.pull_request.body, 'RUN_SNAPSHOT_TESTS')
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4
-        with:
-          submodules: true
       - run: rustup override set ${{ env.RUST_VERSION }}
       - uses: Swatinem/rust-cache@98c8021b550208e191a6a3145459bfc9fb29c4c0 # v2.8.0
-        with:
-          workspaces: ".\nzola" # needed to cache build of zola in ./zola/target
+      - name: Install Zola
+        run: cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/getzola/zola --rev 45d3f8d6285f0b47013c5fa31eb405332118af8b
 
       - run: git fetch --depth 2
       - run: git checkout origin/master
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index f538c9306..e69de29bb 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "zola"]
-	path = zola
-	url = https://github.com/getzola/zola
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4977df4a7..7dc0c8281 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,16 +6,28 @@ This is the blog of the Rust Programming Language.
 
 It uses [Zola](https://www.getzola.org/) and is deployed to GitHub Pages via GitHub Actions.
 
+## Installing Zola
+
+You need at least zola v0.21.0 to render the blog.
+
+Compile from source:
+
+```sh
+cargo install --debug --locked --git https://github.com/getzola/zola --rev 45d3f8d6285f0b47013c5fa31eb405332118af8b
+```
+
+You can also find a list of package managers that provide zola [here](https://www.getzola.org/documentation/getting-started/installation/).
+Prebuilt binaries are available for download [here](https://github.com/getzola/zola/releases/tag/v0.21.0).
+If you use [mise](https://mise.jdx.dev), you can run the pinned version of zola directly with `mise run zola`.
+
 ## Building
 
-To serve the site locally, first make sure the zola submodule is initialized:
+To serve the site locally, run the following:
 
 ```sh
-git submodule update --init --recursive
+zola serve --fast --open
 ```
 
-Now run `cargo zola serve --open`.
-(The first run takes a while to compile Zola.)
 The site will be reloaded automatically when you make any changes.
 
 ## Contributing
diff --git a/crates/snapshot/src/lib.rs b/crates/snapshot/src/lib.rs
index 1989a68e8..44a78be29 100644
--- a/crates/snapshot/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/snapshot/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 fn snapshot() {
     std::env::set_current_dir(concat!(env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"), "/../..")).unwrap();
     let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all("public");
-    let status = std::process::Command::new("cargo")
-        .args(["zola", "build"])
+    let status = std::process::Command::new("zola")
+        .arg("build")
         .status()
         .unwrap();
     assert!(status.success(), "failed to build site");
diff --git a/mise.toml b/mise.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c1ae7b83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mise.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[tasks]
+zola = "zola"
+serve = "zola serve --fast --open"
+
+[tools]
+zola = "0.21.0"
diff --git a/zola b/zola
deleted file mode 160000
index 45d3f8d62..000000000
--- a/zola
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 45d3f8d6285f0b47013c5fa31eb405332118af8b