diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8184b83a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "deps/rocksdb/rocksdb"]
+	path = deps/rocksdb/rocksdb
+	url = https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb.git
diff --git a/.npmignore b/.npmignore
index 4d2b85e0..a635b808 100644
--- a/.npmignore
+++ b/.npmignore
@@ -1,20 +1,20 @@
 deps/**/*.md
 deps/**/.git
 
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/arcanist_util/
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/build_tools/
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/coverage/
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/docs/
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/examples/
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/hdfs/setup.sh
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/java/
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/third-party/gtest-*/
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/tools/*.sh
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/tools/*.py
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/tools/*.dmp
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/tools/rdb/
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/README.md
-deps/leveldb/leveldb-rocksdb/HISTORY.md
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/arcanist_util/
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/build_tools/
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/coverage/
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/docs/
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/examples/
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/hdfs/setup.sh
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/java/
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/third-party/gtest-*/
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/tools/*.sh
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/tools/*.py
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/tools/*.dmp
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/tools/rdb/
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/README.md
+deps/rocksdb/rocksdb/HISTORY.md
 
 deps/snappy/snappy*/testdata/
 deps/snappy/snappy*/*.txt
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0b7b1e8c..5d5f3e14 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -68,6 +68,24 @@ Please refer to [`leveldown`](https://github.com/Level/leveldown#api) for API do
 
 See the [Contribution Guide](https://github.com/Level/community/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md) for more details.
 
+### Git Submodules
+
+This project uses Git Submodules. This means that you should clone it recursively if you're planning on working on it:
+
+```bash
+$ git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Level/leveldown.git
+```
+
+Alternatively, you can initalize submodules inside the cloned folder:
+
+```bash
+$ git submodule update --init --recursive
+```
+
+### Windows
+
+A large portion of the Windows support comes from code by [Krzysztof Kowalczyk](http://blog.kowalczyk.info/) [@kjk](https://twitter.com/kjk), see his Windows LevelDB port [here](http://code.google.com/r/kkowalczyk-leveldb/). If you're using LevelUP on Windows, you should give him your thanks!
+
 ### Publishing
 
 1. Increment the version: `npm version ..`
diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index fd59246d..46db0ae7 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ platform:
 install:
   - SET PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin;%PATH%
   - ps: Install-Product node $env:nodejs_version $env:platform
-  - SET PATH=%APPDATA%\npm;%APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER%\node_modules\.bin;%PATH%
+  - set PATH=%APPDATA%\npm;%APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER%\node_modules\.bin;%PATH%
+  - git submodule update --init --recursive
   - npm i
 
 test_script:
diff --git a/binding.gyp b/binding.gyp
index 8a2d479d..c6f9815b 100644
--- a/binding.gyp
+++ b/binding.gyp
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
           }]
         ]
       , "dependencies": [
-            "<(module_root_dir)/deps/leveldb/leveldb.gyp:leveldb"
+            "<(module_root_dir)/deps/rocksdb/rocksdb.gyp:rocksdb"
         ]
       , "include_dirs"  : [
             "<!(node -e \"require('napi-macros')\")"
diff --git a/deps/rocksdb/build_version.cc b/deps/rocksdb/build_version.cc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..edd4dc7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/rocksdb/build_version.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#include "rocksdb/util/build_version.h"
+const char* rocksdb_build_git_sha = "rocksdb_build_git_sha:None";
+const char* rocksdb_build_git_date = "rocksdb_build_git_date:None";
+const char* rocksdb_build_compile_date = "None";
diff --git a/deps/rocksdb/rocksdb b/deps/rocksdb/rocksdb
new file mode 160000
index 00000000..4e006501
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/rocksdb/rocksdb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 4e0065015d3dab1d94ef7cb2b4b1d1fecfa0e926
diff --git a/deps/rocksdb/rocksdb.gyp b/deps/rocksdb/rocksdb.gyp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fc6d0770
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deps/rocksdb/rocksdb.gyp
@@ -0,0 +1,364 @@
+{
+  'targets': [{
+    'target_name': 'rocksdb'
+  , 'type': 'static_library'
+		# Overcomes an issue with the linker and thin .a files on SmartOS
+  , 'standalone_static_library': 1
+  , 'dependencies': [
+        '../snappy/snappy.gyp:snappy'
+    ]
+  , 'direct_dependent_settings': {
+        'include_dirs': [
+            'rocksdb/include/'
+        ]
+    }
+  , 'defines': [
+        'SNAPPY=1'
+    ]
+  , 'include_dirs': [
+        'rocksdb/'
+      , 'rocksdb/include/'
+    ]
+  , 'conditions': [
+        ['OS == "win"', {
+            'include_dirs': [
+                 'rocksdb/port/win/'
+            ]
+          , 'defines': [
+                'LEVELDB_PLATFORM_UV=1'
+              , 'OS_WIN=1'
+              , 'NOMINMAX=1'
+              , '_HAS_EXCEPTIONS=1'
+            ]
+          , 'sources': [
+               'rocksdb/port/win/port_win.cc'
+             , 'rocksdb/port/win/io_win.cc'
+             , 'rocksdb/port/win/xpress_win.cc'
+             , 'rocksdb/port/win/env_default.cc'
+             , 'rocksdb/port/win/env_win.cc'
+             , 'rocksdb/port/win/win_logger.cc'
+             , 'rocksdb/port/win/win_thread.cc'
+            ]
+          , 'msvs_settings': {
+                'VCCLCompilerTool': {
+                    'EnableFunctionLevelLinking': 'true'
+                  , 'ExceptionHandling': '2'
+                  , 'DisableSpecificWarnings': [ '4355', '4530' ,'4267', '4244' ]
+                }
+            }
+          # Must define RuntimeTypeInfo per configuration to override
+          # the default setting (see nodejs/node-gyp#857 and #26).
+          , 'configurations': {
+                'Debug': {
+                    'msvs_settings': {
+                        'VCCLCompilerTool': {
+                            'RuntimeTypeInfo': 'true'
+                        }
+                    }
+                },
+                'Release': {
+                    'msvs_settings': {
+                        'VCCLCompilerTool': {
+                            'RuntimeTypeInfo': 'true'
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }, { # OS != "win"
+            'sources': [
+                'rocksdb/port/port_posix.cc'
+              , 'rocksdb/port/port_posix.h'
+              , 'rocksdb/util/env_posix.cc'
+            ]
+          , 'defines': [
+                'ROCKSDB_PLATFORM_POSIX=1'
+            ]
+          , 'ccflags': [
+                '-fno-builtin-memcmp'
+              , '-fPIC'
+            ]
+          , 'cflags': [ '-std=c++0x' ]
+          , 'cflags!': [ '-fno-tree-vrp', '-fno-rtti' ]
+          , 'cflags_cc!': [ '-fno-rtti' ]
+          # , 'cflags_cc+': [ '-frtti' ]
+        }]
+      , ['OS != "win"' and 'OS != "freebsd"', {
+            'cflags': [
+                '-Wno-sign-compare'
+              , '-Wno-unused-but-set-variable'
+            ]
+        }]
+      , ['OS == "linux"', {
+            'defines': [
+                'OS_LINUX=1',
+                'ROCKSDB_LIB_IO_POSIX=1'
+            ]
+          , 'libraries': [
+                '-lpthread'
+            ]
+          , 'ccflags': [
+                '-pthread'
+                '-fexceptions'
+            ]
+          , 'cflags!': [ '-fno-exceptions' ]
+          , 'cflags_cc!': [ '-fno-exceptions' ]
+        }]
+      , ['OS == "freebsd"', {
+            'defines': [
+                'OS_FREEBSD=1'
+              , '_REENTRANT=1'
+            ]
+          , 'libraries': [
+                '-lpthread'
+            ]
+          , 'ccflags': [
+                '-pthread'
+            ]
+          , 'cflags': [
+                '-Wno-sign-compare'
+            ]
+        }]
+      , ['OS == "openbsd"', {
+            'defines': [
+                'OS_OPENBSD=1'
+              , '_REENTRANT=1'
+            ]
+          , 'libraries': [
+                '-lpthread'
+            ]
+          , 'ccflags': [
+                '-pthread'
+            ]
+          , 'cflags': [
+                '-Wno-sign-compare'
+            ]
+        }]
+      , ['OS == "solaris"', {
+            'defines': [
+                'OS_SOLARIS=1'
+              , '_REENTRANT=1'
+            ]
+          , 'libraries': [
+                '-lrt'
+              , '-lpthread'
+            ]
+          , 'ccflags': [
+                '-pthread'
+            ]
+        }]
+      , ['OS == "mac"', {
+            'defines': [
+                'OS_MACOSX=1',
+                'ROCKSDB_LIB_IO_POSIX=1',
+                'ROCKSDB_BACKTRACE=1'
+            ]
+          , 'libraries': []
+          , 'ccflags': []
+          , 'xcode_settings': {
+                'WARNING_CFLAGS': [
+                    '-Wno-sign-compare'
+                  , '-Wno-unused-variable'
+                  , '-Wno-unused-function'
+                ]
+                , 'OTHER_CPLUSPLUSFLAGS': [
+                    '-mmacosx-version-min=10.8'
+                  , '-std=c++11'
+                  , '-stdlib=libc++'
+                  , '-march=native'
+                  , '-fno-omit-frame-pointer'
+                  , '-momit-leaf-frame-pointer'
+                ]
+# , 'OTHER_LDFLAGS': ['-stdlib=libc++']
+                , 'GCC_ENABLE_CPP_RTTI': 'YES'
+                , 'GCC_ENABLE_CPP_EXCEPTIONS': 'YES'
+                , 'MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET': '10.8'
+            }
+        }]
+    ]
+  , 'sources': [
+        'rocksdb/db/auto_roll_logger.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/builder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/c.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/column_family.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/compacted_db_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/compaction.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/compaction_iterator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/compaction_job.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/compaction_picker.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/convenience.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/range_del_aggregator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/db_filesnapshot.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/dbformat.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/db_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/db_impl_debug.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/db_impl_readonly.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/db_impl_experimental.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/db_info_dumper.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/db_iter.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/external_sst_file_ingestion_job.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/experimental.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/event_helpers.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/file_indexer.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/filename.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/flush_job.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/flush_scheduler.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/forward_iterator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/internal_stats.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/log_reader.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/log_writer.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/managed_iterator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/memtable_allocator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/memtable.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/memtable_list.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/merge_helper.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/merge_operator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/repair.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/snapshot_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/table_cache.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/table_properties_collector.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/transaction_log_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/version_builder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/version_edit.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/version_set.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/wal_manager.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/write_batch.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/write_batch_base.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/write_controller.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/db/write_thread.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/memtable/hash_cuckoo_rep.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/memtable/hash_linklist_rep.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/memtable/hash_skiplist_rep.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/memtable/skiplistrep.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/memtable/vectorrep.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/port/port.h'
+      , 'rocksdb/port/stack_trace.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/adaptive_table_factory.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/block_based_filter_block.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/block_based_table_builder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/block_based_table_factory.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/block_based_table_reader.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/block_builder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/block.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/block_prefix_index.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/bloom_block.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/cuckoo_table_builder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/cuckoo_table_factory.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/cuckoo_table_reader.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/flush_block_policy.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/format.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/full_filter_block.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/get_context.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/index_builder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/iterator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/merging_iterator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/meta_blocks.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/sst_file_writer.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/partitioned_filter_block.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/plain_table_builder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/plain_table_factory.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/plain_table_index.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/plain_table_key_coding.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/plain_table_reader.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/persistent_cache_helper.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/table_properties.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/table/two_level_iterator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/tools/dump/db_dump_tool.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/arena.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/bloom.cc'
+      , 'build_version.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/cf_options.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/clock_cache.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/coding.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/comparator.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/compaction_job_stats_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/concurrent_arena.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/crc32c.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/db_options.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/delete_scheduler.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/dynamic_bloom.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/env.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/env_chroot.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/env_hdfs.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/event_logger.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/file_util.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/file_reader_writer.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/filter_policy.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/hash.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/histogram.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/histogram_windowing.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/instrumented_mutex.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/iostats_context.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/io_posix.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/log_buffer.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/logging.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/lru_cache.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/memenv.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/murmurhash.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/options.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/options_helper.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/options_parser.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/options_sanity_check.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/perf_context.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/perf_level.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/random.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/rate_limiter.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/sharded_cache.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/slice.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/sst_file_manager_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/statistics.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/status.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/status_message.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/string_util.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/sync_point.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/thread_local.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/thread_status_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/thread_status_updater.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/thread_status_updater_debug.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/thread_status_util.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/thread_status_util_debug.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/threadpool_imp.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/transaction_test_util.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/util/xxhash.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/backupable/backupable_db.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/blob_db/blob_db.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/convenience/info_log_finder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/checkpoint/checkpoint.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/compaction_filters/remove_emptyvalue_compactionfilter.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/document/document_db.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/document/json_document_builder.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/document/json_document.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/env_mirror.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/geodb/geodb_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/leveldb_options/leveldb_options.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/lua/rocks_lua_compaction_filter.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/memory/memory_util.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/merge_operators/put.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/merge_operators/max.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/merge_operators/string_append/stringappend2.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/merge_operators/string_append/stringappend.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/merge_operators/uint64add.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/option_change_migration/option_change_migration.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/options/options_util.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/persistent_cache/persistent_cache_tier.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/persistent_cache/volatile_tier_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/persistent_cache/block_cache_tier_file.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/persistent_cache/block_cache_tier_metadata.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/persistent_cache/block_cache_tier.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/redis/redis_lists.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/simulator_cache/sim_cache.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/table_properties_collectors/compact_on_deletion_collector.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/transactions/optimistic_transaction_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/transactions/optimistic_transaction_db_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/transactions/transaction_base.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/transactions/transaction_db_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/transactions/transaction_db_mutex_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/transactions/transaction_lock_mgr.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/transactions/transaction_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/transactions/transaction_util.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/ttl/db_ttl_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/date_tiered/date_tiered_db_impl.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/write_batch_with_index/write_batch_with_index.cc'
+      , 'rocksdb/utilities/write_batch_with_index/write_batch_with_index_internal.cc'
+    ]
+}]}