diff --git a/plugins/Cardinal/src/Carla.cpp b/plugins/Cardinal/src/Carla.cpp
index 40ae9fe..3bbcd83 100644
--- a/plugins/Cardinal/src/Carla.cpp
+++ b/plugins/Cardinal/src/Carla.cpp
@@ -23,10 +23,12 @@
 #include "water/streams/MemoryOutputStream.h"
 #include "water/xml/XmlDocument.h"
 
-extern "C" {
+#ifndef CARDINAL_SYSDEPS
 // private method that takes ownership, we can use it to avoid superfulous allocations
+extern "C" {
 json_t *jsonp_stringn_nocheck_own(const char* value, size_t len);
 }
+#endif
 
 #define BUFFER_SIZE 128
 
@@ -245,7 +247,11 @@ struct CarlaModule : Module {
         engine->saveProjectInternal(projectState);
 
         const size_t dataSize = projectState.getDataSize();
+#ifndef CARDINAL_SYSDEPS
         return jsonp_stringn_nocheck_own(static_cast<const char*>(projectState.getDataAndRelease()), dataSize);
+#else
+        return json_stringn(static_cast<const char*>(projectState.getData()), dataSize);
+#endif
     }
 
     void dataFromJson(json_t* const rootJ) override
diff --git a/plugins/Cardinal/src/Ildaeil.cpp b/plugins/Cardinal/src/Ildaeil.cpp
index d401b06..b3bb020 100644
--- a/plugins/Cardinal/src/Ildaeil.cpp
+++ b/plugins/Cardinal/src/Ildaeil.cpp
@@ -26,10 +26,12 @@
 #include "water/streams/MemoryOutputStream.h"
 #include "water/xml/XmlDocument.h"
 
-extern "C" {
+#ifndef CARDINAL_SYSDEPS
 // private method that takes ownership, we can use it to avoid superfulous allocations
+extern "C" {
 json_t *jsonp_stringn_nocheck_own(const char* value, size_t len);
 }
+#endif
 
 #define BUFFER_SIZE 128
 
@@ -237,7 +239,11 @@ struct IldaeilModule : Module {
         engine->saveProjectInternal(projectState);
 
         const size_t dataSize = projectState.getDataSize();
+#ifndef CARDINAL_SYSDEPS
         return jsonp_stringn_nocheck_own(static_cast<const char*>(projectState.getDataAndRelease()), dataSize);
+#else
+        return json_stringn(static_cast<const char*>(projectState.getData()), dataSize);
+#endif
     }
 
     void dataFromJson(json_t* const rootJ) override
diff --git a/plugins/Makefile b/plugins/Makefile
index 50cf8f9..7db60b0 100644
--- a/plugins/Makefile
+++ b/plugins/Makefile
@@ -531,7 +531,9 @@ BASE_FLAGS += -I../src/Rack/dep/oui-blendish
 BASE_FLAGS += -I../src/Rack/dep/pffft
 BASE_FLAGS += -pthread
 
-ifneq ($(SYSDEPS),true)
+ifeq ($(SYSDEPS),true)
+BASE_FLAGS += -DCARDINAL_SYSDEPS
+else
 BASE_FLAGS += -DZSTDLIB_VISIBILITY=
 BASE_FLAGS += -I../src/Rack/dep/include
 endif
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 81d5a6a..59b0798 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ BASE_FLAGS += -I../include
 BASE_FLAGS += -I../include/neon-compat
 BASE_FLAGS += -IRack/include
 ifeq ($(SYSDEPS),true)
+BASE_FLAGS += -DCARDINAL_SYSDEPS
 BASE_FLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --cflags jansson libarchive samplerate speexdsp)
 else
 BASE_FLAGS += -DZSTDLIB_VISIBILITY=
diff --git a/src/Makefile.cardinal.mk b/src/Makefile.cardinal.mk
index 7d676d7..cbabd0d 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.cardinal.mk
+++ b/src/Makefile.cardinal.mk
@@ -133,9 +133,10 @@ BASE_FLAGS += -I../../include
 BASE_FLAGS += -I../../include/neon-compat
 BASE_FLAGS += -I../Rack/include
 ifeq ($(SYSDEPS),true)
-BASE_FLAGS += -DZSTDLIB_VISIBILITY=
+BASE_FLAGS += -DCARDINAL_SYSDEPS
 BASE_FLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --cflags jansson libarchive samplerate speexdsp)
 else
+BASE_FLAGS += -DZSTDLIB_VISIBILITY=
 BASE_FLAGS += -I../Rack/dep/include
 endif
 BASE_FLAGS += -I../Rack/dep/glfw/include