diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2684a546f..a2d365bce 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+# Third party projects
+third-party/level-zero/level-zero/
+third-party/mlir/llvm-project/
+
 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 808bcd35b..3ae88c884 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
+# Match requirement from LLVM/MLIR
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13.4)
 
 project(mlir-extensions)
+list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/modules/")
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
@@ -70,6 +72,43 @@ macro(apply_llvm_compile_flags target)
     target_compile_definitions(${target} PRIVATE ${LLVM_DEFINITIONS})
 endmacro()
 
+# Check if using external LLVM/MLIR install tree
+if (DEFINED MLIR_DIR)
+    if (DEFINED MLIR_DIR)
+        set(MLIR_EXT_USE_LLVM_INSTALL_TREE ON)
+    else()
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "Need to define both LLVM_DIR and MLIR_DIR or none.")
+    endif()
+elseif (DEFINED LLVM_DIR)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "Need to define both LLVM_DIR and MLIR_DIR or none.")
+else()
+    set(MLIR_EXT_USE_LLVM_INSTALL_TREE OFF)
+endif()
+
+if(GPU_ENABLE)
+    # Check if using external level-zero
+    if(DEFINED LEVEL_ZERO_DIR)
+        set(MLIR_EXT_USE_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO ON)
+    else()
+        set(MLIR_EXT_USE_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO OFF)
+    endif()
+    message(STATUS "MLIR_EXT_USE_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO: ${MLIR_EXT_USE_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO}")
+endif()
+
+add_subdirectory(third-party)
+
+if(NOT MLIR_EXT_USE_LLVM_INSTALL_TREE)
+    set(LLVM_DIR ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/third-party/mlir/llvm-project/llvm/lib/cmake/llvm)
+    set(MLIR_DIR ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/lib/cmake/mlir)
+endif()
+
+if(GPU_ENABLE)
+    if(NOT MLIR_EXT_USE_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO)
+        set(LEVEL_ZERO_DIR ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR})
+        message(STATUS "LEVEL_ZERO_DIR set to: ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}")
+    endif()
+endif()
+
 if(GPU_ENABLE)
     add_subdirectory(dpcomp_gpu_runtime)
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/modules/update_level_zero.cmake b/cmake/modules/update_level_zero.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..28cd91e07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/modules/update_level_zero.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#===============================================================================
+# Copyright 2022 Intel Corporation
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#===============================================================================
+
+set(LEVEL_ZERO_VERSION_FILE "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/level-zero-sha.txt")
+file(READ "${LEVEL_ZERO_VERSION_FILE}" REVISION_FILE)
+string(REGEX MATCH "([A-Za-z0-9]+)" _ ${REVISION_FILE})
+set(MLIR_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO_COMMIT_ID ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
+message(STATUS "LEVEL_ZERO COMMIT ID: ${MLIR_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO_COMMIT_ID}")
+set(MLIR_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/level-zero")
+
+if (NOT EXISTS "${MLIR_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO_SOURCE_DIR}")
+    message(STATUS "Cloning LEVEL_ZERO git repo")
+    execute_process(COMMAND git clone https://github.com/oneapi-src/level-zero.git
+        WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
+        COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT
+        OUTPUT_VARIABLE LEVEL_ZERO_CLONE_OUTPUT
+        ERROR_VARIABLE LEVEL_ZERO_CLONE_ERROR
+        )
+else()
+    message(STATUS "LEVEL_ZERO git repo already cloned.")
+endif()
+execute_process(COMMAND git fetch --prune
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${MLIR_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO_SOURCE_DIR}
+    COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT
+    OUTPUT_VARIABLE LEVEL_ZERO_PULL_OUTPUT
+    ERROR_VARIABLE LEVEL_ZERO_PULL_ERROR
+    )
+
+message(STATUS "LEVEL_ZERO: checkout ${MLIR_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO_COMMIT_ID}")
+
+execute_process(COMMAND git checkout ${MLIR_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO_COMMIT_ID}
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${MLIR_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO_SOURCE_DIR}
+    COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT
+    OUTPUT_VARIABLE LEVEL_ZERO_CHECKOUT_OUTPUT
+    ERROR_VARIABLE LEVEL_ZERO_CHECKOUT_ERROR
+    )
diff --git a/cmake/modules/update_mlir.cmake b/cmake/modules/update_mlir.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1ce12a3f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/modules/update_mlir.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#===============================================================================
+# Copyright 2022 Intel Corporation
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#===============================================================================
+
+set(LLVM_VERSION_FILE "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/llvm-sha.txt")
+file(READ "${LLVM_VERSION_FILE}" REVISION_FILE)
+string(REGEX MATCH "([A-Za-z0-9]+)" _ ${REVISION_FILE})
+set(MLIR_EXT_LLVM_COMMIT_ID ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
+message(STATUS "LLVM COMMIT ID: ${MLIR_EXT_LLVM_COMMIT_ID}")
+set(MLIR_EXT_LLVM_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/llvm-project")
+
+if (NOT EXISTS "${MLIR_EXT_LLVM_SOURCE_DIR}")
+    message(STATUS "Cloning LLVM git repo")
+    execute_process(COMMAND git clone https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project.git
+        WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
+        COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT
+        OUTPUT_VARIABLE LLVM_CLONE_OUTPUT
+        ERROR_VARIABLE LLVM_CLONE_ERROR
+        )
+else()
+    message(STATUS "LLVM git repo already cloned.")
+endif()
+execute_process(COMMAND git fetch --prune
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${MLIR_EXT_LLVM_SOURCE_DIR}
+    COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT
+    OUTPUT_VARIABLE LLVM_PULL_OUTPUT
+    ERROR_VARIABLE LLVM_PULL_ERROR
+    )
+
+message(STATUS "LLVM: checkout ${MLIR_EXT_LLVM_COMMIT_ID}")
+
+execute_process(COMMAND git checkout ${MLIR_EXT_LLVM_COMMIT_ID}
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY ${MLIR_EXT_LLVM_SOURCE_DIR}
+    COMMAND_ECHO STDOUT
+    OUTPUT_VARIABLE LLVM_CHECKOUT_OUTPUT
+    ERROR_VARIABLE LLVM_CHECKOUT_ERROR
+    )
diff --git a/level-zero-sha.txt b/level-zero-sha.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ec03887f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/level-zero-sha.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+bb7fff05b801e26c3d7858e03e509d1089914d59
diff --git a/mlir/CMakeLists.txt b/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
index 5a68e31aa..d905869e3 100644
--- a/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ include(HandleLLVMOptions)
 file(STRINGS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../llvm-sha.txt EXPECTED_LLVM_SHA)
 message(STATUS "Expected llvm sha: \"${EXPECTED_LLVM_SHA}\"")
 
+if(MLIR_EXT_USE_LLVM_INSTALL_TREE)
 file(STRINGS ${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIR}/llvm/Support/VCSRevision.h REVISION_FILE_DATA)
 message(DEBUG "VCSRevision: ${REVISION_FILE_DATA}")
 string(REGEX MATCH "\"([^\"]*)\"" LLVM_SHA ${REVISION_FILE_DATA})
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ message(STATUS "llvm sha: \"${LLVM_SHA}\"")
 if (NOT EXPECTED_LLVM_SHA STREQUAL LLVM_SHA)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Invalid llvm version")
 endif()
+endif()
 
 add_subdirectory(include/mlir-extensions/dialect/plier)
 add_subdirectory(include/mlir-extensions/dialect/plier_util)
@@ -143,6 +145,7 @@ target_link_libraries(${MLIR_EXTENSIONS_LIB} PRIVATE
 
 target_include_directories(${MLIR_EXTENSIONS_LIB} SYSTEM PRIVATE
     ${MLIR_INCLUDE_DIRS}
+    ${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS}
     PRIVATE
     ./lib
     )
diff --git a/third-party/CMakeLists.txt b/third-party/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3763577a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third-party/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#===============================================================================
+# Copyright 2022 Intel Corporation
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#===============================================================================
+
+# third party projects
+message(STATUS "Configure third-party projects.")
+add_subdirectory(mlir)
+add_subdirectory(level-zero)
diff --git a/third-party/README.md b/third-party/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e4ed2dde4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third-party/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# third party repo sources.
+
+Source files for third party projects will be placed in this directory.
diff --git a/third-party/level-zero/CMakeLists.txt b/third-party/level-zero/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eceed8b96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third-party/level-zero/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#===============================================================================
+# Copyright 2022 Intel Corporation
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#===============================================================================
+
+if ((NOT GPU_ENABLE) OR MLIR_EXT_USE_EXT_LEVEL_ZERO)
+    return()
+endif()
+
+# Update MLIR source
+include(update_level_zero)
+include(ExternalProject)
+ExternalProject_Add(level-zero
+    SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/level-zero
+    CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}
+    )
+
diff --git a/third-party/mlir/CMakeLists.txt b/third-party/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1568b2d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/third-party/mlir/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#===============================================================================
+# Copyright 2022 Intel Corporation
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#===============================================================================
+
+if (MLIR_EXT_USE_LLVM_INSTALL_TREE)
+    message(STATUS "Using LLVM install tree.")
+    return()
+endif()
+
+# Update MLIR source
+include(update_mlir)
+
+# Add MLIR/LLVM
+if (LINUX)
+    set(LLVM_ENABLE_LLD ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+endif()
+set(LLVM_INSTALL_UTILS ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(LLVM_ENABLE_PROJECTS mlir CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(LLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD "host" CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(LLVM_INCLUDE_TOOLS ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(LLVM_BUILD_EXAMPLES ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(LLVM_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(LLVM_ENABLE_RTTI ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+# ON by default
+#set(LLVM_INCLUDE_TESTS ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(MLIR_INCLUDE_INTEGRATION_TESTS ON CACHE INTERNAL "")
+add_subdirectory(llvm-project/llvm)
+
diff --git a/tools/CMakeLists.txt b/tools/CMakeLists.txt
index 34f0bd715..fdf03f4e9 100644
--- a/tools/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tools/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,4 +13,6 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 add_subdirectory(dpcomp-opt)
-add_subdirectory(FileCheck)
+if (MLIR_EXT_USE_LLVM_INSTALL_TREE)
+    add_subdirectory(FileCheck)
+endif()