diff --git a/src/xinspect.hpp b/src/xinspect.hpp
index 17c0cdcc..b83fba95 100644
--- a/src/xinspect.hpp
+++ b/src/xinspect.hpp
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 
 #include <pugixml.hpp>
 
-#include <xtl/xsystem.hpp>
-
 #include "xeus-cpp/xbuffer.hpp"
 #include "xeus-cpp/xpreamble.hpp"
 
diff --git a/src/xinterpreter.cpp b/src/xinterpreter.cpp
index 686e7652..a366dbf5 100644
--- a/src/xinterpreter.cpp
+++ b/src/xinterpreter.cpp
@@ -11,12 +11,35 @@
 #include <cinttypes>  // required before including llvm/ExecutionEngine/Orc/LLJIT.h because missing llvm/Object/SymbolicFile.h
 #include <cstdarg>
 #include <cstdio>
+#include <cstring>
 #include <memory>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 
-#include <xtl/xsystem.hpp>
+#if defined(__linux__)
+#  include <unistd.h>
+#endif
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+#  if defined(NOMINMAX)
+#    include <windows.h>
+#  else
+#    define NOMINMAX
+#    include <windows.h>
+#    undef NOMINMAX
+#  endif
+#endif
+#ifdef __APPLE__
+#  include <cstdint>
+#  include <mach-o/dyld.h>
+#endif
+#if defined(__sun)
+#  include <stdlib.h>
+#endif
+#ifdef __FreeBSD__
+#  include <sys/types.h>
+#  include <sys/sysctl.h>
+#endif
 
 #include <xeus/xhelper.hpp>
 
@@ -105,6 +128,79 @@ __get_cxx_version ()
         return std::to_string(cxx_version);
     }
 
+    inline std::string executable_path()
+    {
+        std::string path;
+#if defined(UNICODE)
+    wchar_t buffer[1024];
+#else
+    char buffer[1024];
+#endif
+        std::memset(buffer, '\0', sizeof(buffer));
+#if defined(__linux__)
+        if (readlink("/proc/self/exe", buffer, sizeof(buffer)) != -1)
+        {
+            path = buffer;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            // failed to determine run path
+        }
+#elif defined (_WIN32)
+    #if defined(UNICODE)
+        if (GetModuleFileNameW(nullptr, buffer, sizeof(buffer)) != 0)
+        {
+            // Convert wchar_t to std::string
+            std::wstring wideString(buffer);
+            std::string narrowString(wideString.begin(), wideString.end());
+            path = narrowString;
+        }
+    #else
+        if (GetModuleFileNameA(nullptr, buffer, sizeof(buffer)) != 0)
+        {
+            path = buffer;
+        }
+    #endif
+        // failed to determine run path
+#elif defined (__APPLE__)
+        std::uint32_t size = sizeof(buffer);
+        if(_NSGetExecutablePath(buffer, &size) == 0)
+        {
+            path = buffer;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            // failed to determine run path
+        }
+#elif defined (__FreeBSD__)
+        int mib[4] = {CTL_KERN, KERN_PROC, KERN_PROC_PATHNAME, -1};
+        size_t buffer_size = sizeof(buffer);
+        if (sysctl(mib, 4, buffer, &buffer_size, NULL, 0) != -1)
+        {
+            path = buffer;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            // failed to determine run path
+        }
+#elif defined(__sun)
+        path = getexecname();
+#endif
+        return path;
+    }
+
+    inline std::string prefix_path()
+    {
+        std::string path = executable_path();
+#if defined (_WIN32)
+        char separator = '\\';
+#else
+        char separator = '/';
+#endif
+        std::string bin_folder = path.substr(0, path.find_last_of(separator));
+        std::string prefix = bin_folder.substr(0, bin_folder.find_last_of(separator)) + separator;
+        return prefix;
+    }
 
     interpreter::interpreter(int argc, const char* const* argv) :
         xmagics()
@@ -387,7 +483,7 @@ __get_cxx_version ()
 
     void interpreter::init_includes()
     {
-        Cpp::AddIncludePath((xtl::prefix_path() + "/include/").c_str());
+        Cpp::AddIncludePath((prefix_path() + "/include/").c_str());
     }
 
     void interpreter::init_preamble()
diff --git a/src/xutils.cpp b/src/xutils.cpp
index 08169a4f..62a84d0f 100644
--- a/src/xutils.cpp
+++ b/src/xutils.cpp
@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 #endif
 
-
 #include "xeus-cpp/xutils.hpp"
-#include "xeus-cpp/xinterpreter.hpp"
 
 namespace xcpp
 {