diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 19ec40f0ed..bbe9507627 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -46,3 +46,6 @@
 [submodule "server/external/spdlog"]
 	path = server/external/spdlog
 	url = https://github.com/gabime/spdlog.git
+[submodule "cmake/external/FeaturizersLibrary"]
+	path = cmake/external/FeaturizersLibrary
+	url = https://github.com/microsoft/FeaturizersLibrary.git
diff --git a/cmake/external/FeaturizersLibrary b/cmake/external/FeaturizersLibrary
new file mode 160000
index 0000000000..ebec32ef06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/external/FeaturizersLibrary
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit ebec32ef06859b6399bf8854f18b91158c87760b
diff --git a/cmake/external/featurizers.cmake b/cmake/external/featurizers.cmake
index 5f1c49b73b..5c10ee15a5 100644
--- a/cmake/external/featurizers.cmake
+++ b/cmake/external/featurizers.cmake
@@ -2,48 +2,17 @@
 # Licensed under the MIT License.
 # This source code should not depend on the onnxruntime and may be built independently
 
-set(featurizers_URL "https://github.com/microsoft/FeaturizersLibrary.git")
-set(featurizers_TAG "ebec32ef06859b6399bf8854f18b91158c87760b")
-
 set(featurizers_pref FeaturizersLibrary)
 set(featurizers_ROOT ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/external/${featurizers_pref})
 set(featurizers_BINARY_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external/${featurizers_pref})
 
-# Windows required git config setting
-# and an a switch whether we link to MSVCRT statically or dynamically
-if (WIN32)
-    ExternalProject_Add(featurizers_lib
-            PREFIX ${featurizers_pref}
-            GIT_REPOSITORY ${featurizers_URL}
-            GIT_TAG ${featurizers_TAG}
-            # Need this to properly checkout crlf
-            GIT_CONFIG core.autocrlf=input
-            SOURCE_DIR ${featurizers_ROOT}
-            # Location of CMakeLists.txt
-            SOURCE_SUBDIR src/Featurizers
-            BINARY_DIR ${featurizers_BINARY_DIR}
-            CMAKE_ARGS -Dfeaturizers_MSVC_STATIC_RUNTIME=${onnxruntime_MSVC_STATIC_RUNTIME}
-            INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-            
-        )
-else()
-    ExternalProject_Add(featurizers_lib
-            PREFIX ${featurizers_pref}
-            GIT_REPOSITORY ${featurizers_URL}
-            GIT_TAG ${featurizers_TAG}
-            SOURCE_DIR ${featurizers_ROOT}
-            # Location of CMakeLists.txt
-            SOURCE_SUBDIR src/Featurizers
-            BINARY_DIR ${featurizers_BINARY_DIR}
-            CMAKE_ARGS -DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON
-            INSTALL_COMMAND ""
-        )
-endif()
+add_subdirectory(external/FeaturizersLibrary/src/Featurizers ${featurizers_BINARY_DIR} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+set_target_properties(FeaturizersCode PROPERTIES FOLDER "External/FeaturizersLibrary")
 
 add_library(onnxruntime_featurizers STATIC IMPORTED)
-add_dependencies(onnxruntime_featurizers featurizers_lib)
-target_include_directories(onnxruntime_featurizers INTERFACE ${featurizers_ROOT}/src)
+add_dependencies(onnxruntime_featurizers FeaturizersCode)
 
+target_include_directories(onnxruntime_featurizers INTERFACE ${featurizers_ROOT}/src)
 if(MSVC)
   set_property(TARGET onnxruntime_featurizers PROPERTY IMPORTED_LOCATION
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external/${featurizers_pref}/${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}/FeaturizersCode.lib)
@@ -52,6 +21,7 @@ else()
     ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external/${featurizers_pref}/libFeaturizersCode.a)
 endif()
 
+
 if (WIN32)
     # Add Code Analysis properties to enable C++ Core checks. Have to do it via a props file include.
     set_target_properties(onnxruntime_featurizers PROPERTIES VS_USER_PROPS ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/ConfigureVisualStudioCodeAnalysis.props)