diff --git a/scripts/build_p2pd.sh b/scripts/build_p2pd.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..cf90a34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build_p2pd.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Copyright (c) 2018-2019 Status Research & Development GmbH. Licensed under
+# either of:
+# - Apache License, version 2.0
+# - MIT license
+# at your option. This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed except
+# according to those terms.
+
+set -e
+
+CACHE_DIR="$1" # optional parameter pointing to a CI cache dir.
+LIBP2P_COMMIT="v0.2.1" # tags work too
+SUBREPO_DIR="vendor/go/src/github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-daemon"
+if [[ ! -e "$SUBREPO_DIR" ]]; then
+	# we're probably in nim-libp2p's CI
+	SUBREPO_DIR="go-libp2p-daemon"
+	git clone https://github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-daemon
+	cd "$SUBREPO_DIR"
+	git checkout $LIBP2P_COMMIT
+	cd ..
+fi
+
+## env vars
+# verbosity level
+[[ -z "$V" ]] && V=0
+[[ -z "$BUILD_MSG" ]] && BUILD_MSG="Building p2pd"
+
+# Windows detection
+if uname | grep -qiE "mingw|msys"; then
+	EXE_SUFFIX=".exe"
+else
+	EXE_SUFFIX=""
+fi
+
+# macOS
+if uname | grep -qi "darwin"; then
+	STAT_FORMAT="-f %m"
+else
+	STAT_FORMAT="-c %Y"
+fi
+
+TARGET_DIR="${GOPATH}/bin"
+TARGET_BINARY="${TARGET_DIR}/p2pd${EXE_SUFFIX}"
+
+target_needs_rebuilding() {
+	REBUILD=0
+	NO_REBUILD=1
+
+	if [[ -n "$CACHE_DIR" && -e "${CACHE_DIR}/p2pd${EXE_SUFFIX}" ]]; then
+		mkdir -p "${TARGET_DIR}"
+		cp -a "$CACHE_DIR"/* "${TARGET_DIR}/"
+	fi
+
+	# compare binary mtime to the date of the last commit (keep in mind that Git doesn't preserve file timestamps)
+	if [[ -e "$TARGET_BINARY" && $(stat $STAT_FORMAT "$TARGET_BINARY") -gt $(cd "$SUBREPO_DIR"; git log --pretty=format:%cd -n 1 --date=unix) ]]; then
+		return $NO_REBUILD
+	else
+		return $REBUILD
+	fi
+}
+
+build_target() {
+	echo -e "$BUILD_MSG"
+	[[ "$V" == "0" ]] && exec &>/dev/null
+
+	pushd "$SUBREPO_DIR"
+	# Go module downloads can fail randomly in CI VMs, so retry them a few times
+	MAX_RETRIES=5
+	CURR=0
+	while [[ $CURR -lt $MAX_RETRIES ]]; do
+		FAILED=0
+		go get ./... && break || FAILED=1
+		CURR=$(( CURR + 1 ))
+		echo "retry #${CURR}"
+	done
+	if [[ $FAILED == 1 ]]; then
+		echo "Error: still fails after retrying ${MAX_RETRIES} times."
+		exit 1
+	fi
+	go install ./...
+	popd
+
+	# update the CI cache
+	if [[ -n "$CACHE_DIR" ]]; then
+		rm -rf "$CACHE_DIR"
+		mkdir "$CACHE_DIR"
+		cp -a "$TARGET_DIR"/* "$CACHE_DIR"/
+	fi
+}
+
+if target_needs_rebuilding; then
+	build_target
+fi
+