diff --git a/cpp/thirdparty/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/thirdparty/CMakeLists.txt
index d75fd27f33..be97f12677 100644
--- a/cpp/thirdparty/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/thirdparty/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -66,40 +66,21 @@ endif()
 
 # ## BOOST
 if(MEMILIO_USE_BUNDLED_BOOST)
-    message(STATUS "Downloading Boost library. This may take several minutes. This is the time to get yourself a coffee. :-)")
+    message(STATUS "Downloading Boost library")
+
+    string(REPLACE "." "_" MEMILIO_BOOST_VERSION_UNDERSC "${MEMILIO_BOOST_VERSION}")
 
     include(FetchContent)
     FetchContent_Declare(boost
-    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/boostorg/boost.git
-    GIT_TAG boost-${MEMILIO_BOOST_VERSION})
+        #don't use the URL from github, that download isn't complete and requires more setup (subrepositories, bootstrapping)
+        URL https://archives.boost.io/release/${MEMILIO_BOOST_VERSION}/source/boost_${MEMILIO_BOOST_VERSION_UNDERSC}.tar.gz
+    )
     FetchContent_GetProperties(boost)
 
     if(NOT boost_POPULATED)
         FetchContent_Populate(boost)
     endif()
-    
-    add_custom_target(boost-bootstrap ALL 
-            DEPENDS "${boost_SOURCE_DIR}/boost"
-            )
-
-    if(MSVC)
-        add_custom_command(
-            OUTPUT "${boost_SOURCE_DIR}/boost"
-            COMMAND "bootstrap.bat"
-            COMMAND "b2.exe" headers
-            WORKING_DIRECTORY ${boost_SOURCE_DIR}
-            VERBATIM
-            )
-    else()
-        add_custom_command(
-            OUTPUT "${boost_SOURCE_DIR}/boost"
-            COMMAND ./bootstrap.sh
-            COMMAND ./b2 headers 
-            WORKING_DIRECTORY ${boost_SOURCE_DIR}
-            VERBATIM
-            )
-    endif()
-    
+
     add_library(boost INTERFACE)
     add_dependencies(boost boost-bootstrap)
     add_library(Boost::boost ALIAS boost)
diff --git a/pycode/memilio-generation/CMakeLists.txt b/pycode/memilio-generation/CMakeLists.txt
index 313001faf3..c14e703e82 100644
--- a/pycode/memilio-generation/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/pycode/memilio-generation/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON)
 
 # add in C++ library
 add_subdirectory(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../../cpp ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/cpp EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
-add_custom_target(DUMMY ALL)
-add_dependencies(DUMMY boost-bootstrap)
 FIND_LIBRARY(LIBCLANG_PATH
     clang HINTS ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}/../../
 )
diff --git a/pycode/memilio-generation/memilio/generation_test/test_oseir_generation.py b/pycode/memilio-generation/memilio/generation_test/test_oseir_generation.py
index 7cae459d09..5913acf8de 100644
--- a/pycode/memilio-generation/memilio/generation_test/test_oseir_generation.py
+++ b/pycode/memilio-generation/memilio/generation_test/test_oseir_generation.py
@@ -51,11 +51,6 @@ class TestOseirGeneration(unittest.TestCase):
         cmake_cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, cwd=build_dir.name)
     cmake_cmd_result.check_returncode()
 
-    cmake_cmd = ["cmake", "--build", ".", "--target", "boost-bootstrap"]
-    cmake_cmd_result = subprocess.run(
-        cmake_cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, cwd=build_dir.name)
-    cmake_cmd_result.check_returncode()
-
     @patch('memilio.generation.scanner.utility.try_get_compilation_database_path')
     def setUp(self, try_get_compilation_database_path_mock):
         try_get_compilation_database_path_mock.return_value = self.build_dir.name