diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index f5d43bb..9f3692f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,10 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: install npm dependencies
         run: npm install
-      
+
+      - name: build rxdb from source
+        run: bash scripts/build-rxdb.sh
+
       - name: build code
         run: npm run build
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index eeb1a1e..0d59aca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ jobs:
         with:
           path: |
             ~/.npm
-            ./node_modules
           key: ${{ runner.os }}-npm-core-x3-${{ hashFiles('**/package.json') }}
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-npm-core-x3-
@@ -46,6 +45,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: install npm dependencies
         run: npm install
 
+      - name: build rxdb from source
+        run: bash scripts/build-rxdb.sh
+
       - name: build
         run: npm run build
 
@@ -69,13 +71,14 @@ jobs:
         with:
           path: |
             ~/.npm
-            ./node_modules
             /tmp/.buildx-cache
           key: ${{ runner.os }}-npm-storage-dexie-x3-${{ hashFiles('**/package.json') }}
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-npm-storage-dexie-x3-
 
       - run: npm install
+      - name: build rxdb from source
+        run: bash scripts/build-rxdb.sh
       - run: npm run test:integration:init
       - run: npm run test:integration:memory
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 9044e0b..df9324a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -27,12 +27,13 @@ jobs:
         with:
           path: |
             ~/.npm
-            ./node_modules
           key: ${{ runner.os }}-npm-release-x2-${{ hashFiles('**/package.json') }}
           restore-keys: |
             ${{ runner.os }}-npm-release-x2-
 
       - run: npm install
+      - name: build rxdb from source
+        run: bash scripts/build-rxdb.sh
       - run: npm run build
 
       - name: Get version
diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-rxdb.yml b/.github/workflows/update-rxdb.yml
index 23b9ac0..d82977f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-rxdb.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-rxdb.yml
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
-      - name: Get current rxdb version from package.json
+      - name: Get current peer-deps rxdb version from package.json
         id: current
         run: |
-          CURRENT_VERSION=$(node -e "console.log(require('./package.json').devDependencies.rxdb)")
+          CURRENT_VERSION=$(node -e "console.log(require('./package.json').peerDependencies.rxdb)")
           echo "version=$CURRENT_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
       - name: Get latest and next rxdb versions from npm
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ jobs:
           echo "latest=$LATEST_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           echo "next=$NEXT_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
+      - name: Get latest commit hash from rxdb master
+        id: hash
+        run: |
+          COMMIT_HASH=$(git ls-remote https://github.com/pubkey/rxdb.git refs/heads/master | cut -f1)
+          echo "commit=$COMMIT_HASH" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
       - name: Determine target version
         id: target
         run: |
@@ -66,23 +72,36 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo "version=$TARGET" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
+      - name: Get current commit hash from package.json
+        id: current_hash
+        run: |
+          CURRENT_HASH=$(node -e "
+            const dep = require('./package.json').devDependencies.rxdb;
+            const match = dep.match(/\/archive\/([a-f0-9]+)\.tar\.gz$/);
+            console.log(match ? match[1] : '');
+          ")
+          echo "commit=$CURRENT_HASH" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
       - name: Update package.json
-        if: steps.target.outputs.changed == 'true'
+        if: steps.target.outputs.changed == 'true' || steps.hash.outputs.commit != steps.current_hash.outputs.commit
         run: |
           TARGET="${{ steps.target.outputs.version }}"
+          COMMIT="${{ steps.hash.outputs.commit }}"
           node -e "
             const fs = require('fs');
             const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./package.json', 'utf-8'));
-            pkg.devDependencies.rxdb = '$TARGET';
+            pkg.peerDependencies.rxdb = '$TARGET';
+            pkg.devDependencies.rxdb = 'https://github.com/pubkey/rxdb/archive/$COMMIT.tar.gz';
             fs.writeFileSync('./package.json', JSON.stringify(pkg, null, 2) + '\n', 'utf-8');
           "
 
       - name: Commit and push
-        if: steps.target.outputs.changed == 'true'
+        if: steps.target.outputs.changed == 'true' || steps.hash.outputs.commit != steps.current_hash.outputs.commit
         run: |
           TARGET="${{ steps.target.outputs.version }}"
+          COMMIT="${{ steps.hash.outputs.commit }}"
           git config --local user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
           git config --local user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git add package.json
-          git commit -m "chore: update rxdb to $TARGET"
+          git commit -m "chore: update rxdb to $TARGET (master: ${COMMIT:0:7})"
           git push
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9cf4edf..c8e7ad3 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
     "test:integration:mongodb": "(cd test-integration && npm run transpile && npm run test:node:mongodb)"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
-    "rxdb": "*",
+    "rxdb": "17.1.0",
     "rxjs": "*"
   },
   "dependencies": {
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
     "minify-all-js": "0.1.9",
     "mocha": "11.7.5",
     "rimraf": "6.1.3",
-    "rxdb": "17.1.0",
+    "rxdb": "https://github.com/pubkey/rxdb/archive/7a251701bbffefde18c360013c82148746dff5cb.tar.gz",
     "rxjs": "7.8.2",
     "ts-loader": "9.5.7",
     "ts-node": "10.9.2",
diff --git a/scripts/build-rxdb.sh b/scripts/build-rxdb.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9befbdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-rxdb.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+# When rxdb is installed from a GitHub tarball, dist/ is not included
+# (it's gitignored in the rxdb repo). We install devDependencies, then build.
+RXDB_DIR="node_modules/rxdb"
+
+if [ ! -d "$RXDB_DIR" ]; then
+  echo "Error: $RXDB_DIR does not exist"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+cd "$RXDB_DIR"
+
+# Install all devDependencies of rxdb so the build can succeed
+npm install
+
+# Deduplicate: remove nested packages that already exist at the root
+# node_modules with the same version. This prevents TypeScript from
+# generating non-portable paths like 'rxdb/node_modules/mingo/types'
+# during declaration emit (TS2742).
+cd ..
+for nested in rxdb/node_modules/*/; do
+  pkg=$(basename "$nested")
+  if [ -d "$pkg" ]; then
+    nested_ver=$(node -p "try{require('./rxdb/node_modules/$pkg/package.json').version}catch(e){''}" 2>/dev/null)
+    root_ver=$(node -p "try{require('./$pkg/package.json').version}catch(e){''}" 2>/dev/null)
+    if [ -n "$nested_ver" ] && [ "$nested_ver" = "$root_ver" ]; then
+      rm -rf "$nested"
+    fi
+  fi
+done
+cd rxdb
+
+npm run build
diff --git a/scripts/extract-rxdb-version.sh b/scripts/extract-rxdb-version.sh
index 1026eaa..675bda9 100644
--- a/scripts/extract-rxdb-version.sh
+++ b/scripts/extract-rxdb-version.sh
@@ -1,10 +1,4 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
-RXDB_VERSION=$(cat ../package.json \
-  | grep '"rxdb":' \
-  | tail -1 \
-  | awk -F: '{ print $2 }' \
-  | sed 's/[",]//g' \
-  | sed -e 's/^[[:space:]]*//'
-)
+RXDB_VERSION=$(node -e "console.log(require('../package.json').peerDependencies.rxdb)")
diff --git a/scripts/test-integration-init.sh b/scripts/test-integration-init.sh
index 8567457..1a1b87b 100644
--- a/scripts/test-integration-init.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-integration-init.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ npm install
 npm install rxdb@$RXDB_VERSION
 npm install ./rxdb-server.tgz
 
-(cd ./node_modules/rxdb-server/ && npm i)
+(cd ./node_modules/rxdb-server/ && npm i --omit=dev)
 
 npm run build
 
diff --git a/scripts/version.js b/scripts/version.js
index e04116f..8e3156f 100644
--- a/scripts/version.js
+++ b/scripts/version.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ const fs = require('node:fs');
 const packageJSON = require('../package.json');
 
 
-packageJSON.version = packageJSON.devDependencies.rxdb;
+packageJSON.version = packageJSON.peerDependencies.rxdb;
 fs.writeFileSync('./package.json', JSON.stringify(packageJSON, null, 2), 'utf-8');
 
-console.log(packageJSON.devDependencies.rxdb);
+console.log(packageJSON.peerDependencies.rxdb);