diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0592392..54088d5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-/target
+target
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 6a29672..1a6a71c 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 [workspace]
 resolver = "2"
 members = ["merde", "merde_json", "merde_time", "merde_core"]
+exclude = ["zerodeps-example"]
diff --git a/Justfile b/Justfile
index 25545b0..a151121 100644
--- a/Justfile
+++ b/Justfile
@@ -1,4 +1,14 @@
 check:
     #!/bin/bash -eux
+    cargo check --example simple --no-default-features --features=json
+    cargo run --example simple --features=core,json
     cargo test -F full
+    cargo check --no-default-features
     cargo hack --feature-powerset check
+
+    pushd zerodeps-example
+    cargo check
+    cargo check --features=merde
+    cargo tree --prefix none --no-dedupe | grep -v compact_str
+    cargo tree --prefix none --no-dedupe --features=merde | grep compact_str
+    popd
diff --git a/merde/Cargo.toml b/merde/Cargo.toml
index af1ee6c..1302797 100644
--- a/merde/Cargo.toml
+++ b/merde/Cargo.toml
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ merde_json = { version = "3.0.0", path = "../merde_json", optional = true }
 merde_time = { version = "3.0.0", path = "../merde_time", optional = true }
 
 [features]
-default = ["core"]
-full = ["json", "time", "core"]
+default = ["core", "deserialize"]
+full = ["core", "deserialize", "json", "time"]
+deserialize = ["core"]
 core = ["dep:merde_core"]
 json = ["dep:merde_json"]
 time = ["dep:merde_time"]
diff --git a/merde/README.md b/merde/README.md
index dfe7107..8938d22 100644
--- a/merde/README.md
+++ b/merde/README.md
@@ -389,3 +389,109 @@ fn main() {
 ```
 
 You can of course make your own newtype wrappers to control how a field gets deserialized.
+
+## Conditional compilation
+
+(As of merde 3.1), you never need to add `cfg` gates to conditionally invoke the `merde::derive!`
+macro, because, with default features disabled, `merde` has zero dependencies.
+
+There's two main ways to be conservative with the amount of generated code / the amount of
+dependencies pulled with merde.
+
+### Approach 1: "core" by default, "deserialize" on demand
+
+Your manifest could look like this:
+
+```toml
+# in `Cargo.toml`
+
+[dependencies]
+merde = { version = "3.1", default-features = false, features = ["core"] }
+```
+
+And then you'd be able to use merde-provided types, like `CowStr`:
+
+```rust
+use merde::CowStr;
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+struct Person<'s> {
+    name: CowStr<'s>,
+    age: u8, // sorry 256-year-olds
+}
+
+merde::derive! {
+    impl (ValueDeserialize, JsonSerialize, IntoStatic) for Person<'s> { name, age }
+}
+```
+
+And the `impl` blocks for `ValueDeserialize`, and `JsonSerialize` wouldn't actually
+be generated unless crates downstream of yours enable `merde/deserialize` or `merde/json`.
+
+### Approach 2: zero-deps
+
+If your manifest looks more like this:
+
+```toml
+# in `Cargo.toml`
+
+[dependencies]
+merde = { version = "3.1", default-features = false }
+
+[features]
+default = []
+merde = ["merde/core"]
+```
+
+...with no `merde` features enabled by default at all, then you have to stay
+away from merde types, or use substitutes, for example, you could switch
+`CowStr<'s>` with `std::borrow::Cow<'s, str>` and get largely the same API:
+
+```rust
+#[cfg(feature = "merde")]
+use merde::CowStr;
+
+#[cfg(not(feature = "merde"))]
+pub type CowStr<'s> = std::borrow::Cow<'s, str>;
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct Person<'s> {
+    name: CowStr<'s>,
+    age: u8, // sorry 256-year-olds
+}
+
+merde::derive! {
+    impl (ValueDeserialize, JsonSerialize, IntoStatic) for Person<'s> { name, age }
+}
+```
+
+(But not the same ABI! Careful if you use this in conjunction with something
+like [rubicon](https://github.com/bearcove/rubicon)).
+
+With that configuration, users of your crate will only have to pay for downloading
+`merde` and evaluating a few `derive!` macros which will produce empty token trees —
+no extra dependencies, barely any extra build time.
+
+See `zerodeps-example` in the [merde repository](https://github.com/bearcove/merde)
+for a demonstration:
+
+```shell
+❯ cargo tree --prefix none
+zerodeps-example v0.1.0 (/Users/amos/bearcove/merde/zerodeps-example)
+merde v3.0.0 (/Users/amos/bearcove/merde/merde)
+```
+
+```shell
+❯ cargo tree --prefix none --features 'merde'
+zerodeps-example v0.1.0 (/Users/amos/bearcove/merde/zerodeps-example)
+merde v3.0.0 (/Users/amos/bearcove/merde/merde)
+merde_core v3.0.0 (/Users/amos/bearcove/merde/merde_core)
+compact_str v0.8.0
+castaway v0.2.3
+rustversion v1.0.17 (proc-macro)
+cfg-if v1.0.0
+itoa v1.0.11
+rustversion v1.0.17 (proc-macro)
+ryu v1.0.18
+static_assertions v1.1.0
+```
diff --git a/merde/examples/simple.rs b/merde/examples/simple.rs
index c37b716..4dda023 100644
--- a/merde/examples/simple.rs
+++ b/merde/examples/simple.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
+#[cfg(feature = "core")]
 use merde::CowStr;
-use merde::json::JsonSerialize;
 
+#[cfg(not(feature = "core"))]
+type CowStr<'s> = std::borrow::Cow<'s, str>;
+
+#[cfg(all(feature = "core", feature = "json"))]
 fn main() {
+    use merde::json::JsonSerialize;
+
     let input = r#"
     {
         "name": "John Doe",
@@ -30,7 +36,15 @@ fn main() {
     assert_eq!(person, person2);
 }
 
-#[allow(dead_code)]
+#[cfg(not(all(feature = "core", feature = "json")))]
+fn main() {
+    eprintln!("Well if the `core` feature is not enabled,");
+    eprintln!("we can't call `from_str_via_value` and stuff,");
+    eprintln!("but this still serves as an example that");
+    eprintln!("you can keep your `merde::derive!` in place,");
+    eprintln!("they'll just not generate any code.");
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
 struct Address<'s> {
     street: CowStr<'s>,
@@ -48,7 +62,6 @@ merde::derive! {
     }
 }
 
-#[allow(dead_code)]
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
 struct Person<'s> {
     name: CowStr<'s>,
diff --git a/merde/src/lib.rs b/merde/src/lib.rs
index 09790e7..f2908f7 100644
--- a/merde/src/lib.rs
+++ b/merde/src/lib.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ pub use merde_core::*;
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! impl_value_deserialize {
     ($struct_name:ident <$lifetime:lifetime> { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        #[cfg(feature = "deserialize")]
         #[automatically_derived]
         impl<$lifetime> $crate::ValueDeserialize<$lifetime> for $struct_name<$lifetime>
         {
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ macro_rules! impl_value_deserialize {
     };
 
     ($struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        #[cfg(feature = "deserialize")]
         #[automatically_derived]
         impl<'s> $crate::ValueDeserialize<'s> for $struct_name
         {
@@ -83,6 +85,7 @@ macro_rules! impl_value_deserialize {
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! impl_into_static {
     ($struct_name:ident <$lifetime:lifetime> { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        #[cfg(feature = "core")]
         #[automatically_derived]
         impl<$lifetime> $crate::IntoStatic for $struct_name<$lifetime> {
             type Output = $struct_name<'static>;
@@ -99,6 +102,7 @@ macro_rules! impl_into_static {
     };
 
     ($struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        #[cfg(feature = "core")]
         #[automatically_derived]
         impl $crate::IntoStatic for $struct_name {
             type Output = $struct_name;
@@ -115,7 +119,7 @@ macro_rules! impl_into_static {
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! impl_json_serialize {
     ($struct_name:ident < $lifetime:lifetime > { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
-        #[cfg(feature = "json")]
+        #[cfg(all(feature = "core", feature = "json"))]
         #[automatically_derived]
         impl<$lifetime> $crate::json::JsonSerialize for $struct_name<$lifetime> {
             fn json_serialize(&self, serializer: &mut $crate::json::JsonSerializer) {
@@ -131,7 +135,7 @@ macro_rules! impl_json_serialize {
     };
 
     ($struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
-        #[cfg(feature = "json")]
+        #[cfg(all(feature = "core", feature = "json"))]
         #[automatically_derived]
         impl $crate::json::JsonSerialize for $struct_name {
             fn json_serialize(&self, serializer: &mut $crate::json::JsonSerializer) {
@@ -147,6 +151,37 @@ macro_rules! impl_json_serialize {
     };
 }
 
+#[doc(hidden)]
+#[macro_export]
+macro_rules! impl_trait {
+    // borrowed
+    (@impl JsonSerialize, $struct_name:ident <$lifetime:lifetime> { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        $crate::impl_json_serialize!($struct_name <$lifetime> { $($field),+ });
+    };
+    // owned
+    (@impl JsonSerialize, $struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        $crate::impl_json_serialize!($struct_name { $($field),+ });
+    };
+
+    // with lifetime param
+    (@impl ValueDeserialize, $struct_name:ident <$lifetime:lifetime> { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        $crate::impl_value_deserialize!($struct_name <$lifetime> { $($field),+ });
+    };
+    // l
+    (@impl ValueDeserialize, $struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        $crate::impl_value_deserialize!($struct_name { $($field),+ });
+    };
+
+    // with lifetime param
+    (@impl IntoStatic, $struct_name:ident <$lifetime:lifetime> { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        $crate::impl_into_static!($struct_name <$lifetime> { $($field),+ });
+    };
+    // without lifetime param
+    (@impl IntoStatic, $struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
+        $crate::impl_into_static!($struct_name { $($field),+ });
+    };
+}
+
 /// Derives the specified traits for a struct.
 ///
 /// This macro can be used to generate implementations of [`JsonSerialize`], [`ValueDeserialize`],
@@ -213,37 +248,6 @@ macro_rules! derive {
     (@step1 { } $struct_name:ident $fields:tt) => {};
 }
 
-#[doc(hidden)]
-#[macro_export]
-macro_rules! impl_trait {
-    // borrowed
-    (@impl JsonSerialize, $struct_name:ident <$lifetime:lifetime> { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
-        $crate::impl_json_serialize!($struct_name <$lifetime> { $($field),+ });
-    };
-    // owned
-    (@impl JsonSerialize, $struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
-        $crate::impl_json_serialize!($struct_name { $($field),+ });
-    };
-
-    // with lifetime param
-    (@impl ValueDeserialize, $struct_name:ident <$lifetime:lifetime> { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
-        $crate::impl_value_deserialize!($struct_name <$lifetime> { $($field),+ });
-    };
-    // l
-    (@impl ValueDeserialize, $struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
-        $crate::impl_value_deserialize!($struct_name { $($field),+ });
-    };
-
-    // with lifetime param
-    (@impl IntoStatic, $struct_name:ident <$lifetime:lifetime> { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
-        $crate::impl_into_static!($struct_name <$lifetime> { $($field),+ });
-    };
-    // without lifetime param
-    (@impl IntoStatic, $struct_name:ident { $($field:ident),+ }) => {
-        $crate::impl_into_static!($struct_name { $($field),+ });
-    };
-}
-
 #[cfg(test)]
 #[cfg(feature = "json")]
 mod json_tests {
diff --git a/zerodeps-example/Cargo.lock b/zerodeps-example/Cargo.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ec38a60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zerodeps-example/Cargo.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+# This file is automatically @generated by Cargo.
+# It is not intended for manual editing.
+version = 3
+
+[[package]]
+name = "castaway"
+version = "0.2.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0abae9be0aaf9ea96a3b1b8b1b55c602ca751eba1b1500220cea4ecbafe7c0d5"
+dependencies = [
+ "rustversion",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "cfg-if"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "baf1de4339761588bc0619e3cbc0120ee582ebb74b53b4efbf79117bd2da40fd"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "compact_str"
+version = "0.8.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6050c3a16ddab2e412160b31f2c871015704239bca62f72f6e5f0be631d3f644"
+dependencies = [
+ "castaway",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "itoa",
+ "rustversion",
+ "ryu",
+ "static_assertions",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "itoa"
+version = "1.0.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "49f1f14873335454500d59611f1cf4a4b0f786f9ac11f4312a78e4cf2566695b"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "merde"
+version = "3.0.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "merde_core",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "merde_core"
+version = "3.0.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "compact_str",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rustversion"
+version = "1.0.17"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "955d28af4278de8121b7ebeb796b6a45735dc01436d898801014aced2773a3d6"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "ryu"
+version = "1.0.18"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f3cb5ba0dc43242ce17de99c180e96db90b235b8a9fdc9543c96d2209116bd9f"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "static_assertions"
+version = "1.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a2eb9349b6444b326872e140eb1cf5e7c522154d69e7a0ffb0fb81c06b37543f"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zerodeps-example"
+version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "merde",
+]
diff --git a/zerodeps-example/Cargo.toml b/zerodeps-example/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f40dd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zerodeps-example/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[package]
+name = "zerodeps-example"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+
+[dependencies]
+merde = { version = "3.0.0", path = "../merde", default-features = false }
+
+[features]
+default = []
+merde = ["merde/core"]
diff --git a/zerodeps-example/src/lib.rs b/zerodeps-example/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d99e620
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zerodeps-example/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#[cfg(feature = "merde")]
+use merde::CowStr;
+
+#[cfg(not(feature = "merde"))]
+pub type CowStr<'s> = std::borrow::Cow<'s, str>;
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct Person<'s> {
+    pub name: CowStr<'s>,
+    pub age: u8, // sorry 256-year-olds
+}
+
+merde::derive! {
+    impl (ValueDeserialize, JsonSerialize, IntoStatic) for Person<'s> { name, age }
+}