diff --git a/builder/codegen.js b/builder/codegen.js
index 11ef2bf..b5fb62c 100644
--- a/builder/codegen.js
+++ b/builder/codegen.js
@@ -66,17 +66,20 @@ const Falsies = new Map([
 ])
 
 module.exports = function generateCode (hyperdb, { directory = '.', esm = false } = {}) {
+  const messagesPath = p.relative(p.resolve(directory), hyperdb.schema.dir).replaceAll('\\', '/')
+
   let str = ''
   str += '// This file is autogenerated by the hyperdb compiler\n'
   str += '/* eslint-disable camelcase */\n'
   str += '\n'
+
   if (esm) {
     str += `import { IndexEncoder, c } from '${pkg.name}/runtime'\n`
-    str += 'import { version, getEncoding, setVersion } from \'./messages.js\'\n'
+    str += `import { version, getEncoding, setVersion } from ${s(messagesPath)}\n`
     str += '\n'
   } else {
     str += `const { IndexEncoder, c } = require('${pkg.name}/runtime')\n`
-    str += 'const { version, getEncoding, setVersion } = require(\'./messages.js\')\n'
+    str += `const { version, getEncoding, setVersion } = require(${s(messagesPath)})\n`
     str += '\n'
   }
 
@@ -86,9 +89,9 @@ module.exports = function generateCode (hyperdb, { directory = '.', esm = false
     addedHelper = true
     const helpers = p.relative(p.resolve(directory), ns.helpers).replaceAll('\\', '/')
     if (esm) {
-      str += `import * as helpers${ns.id} from '${helpers}'\n`
+      str += `import * as helpers${ns.id} from ${s(helpers)}\n`
     } else {
-      str += `const helpers${ns.id} = require('${helpers}')\n`
+      str += `const helpers${ns.id} = require(${s(helpers)})\n`
     }
   }
   if (addedHelper) str += '\n'
diff --git a/builder/example/example.js b/builder/example/example.js
index 952d150..6466a38 100644
--- a/builder/example/example.js
+++ b/builder/example/example.js
@@ -94,11 +94,10 @@ example.register({
   ]
 })
 
-Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
+const db = HyperDB.from(DB_DIR)
+db.registerSchema(schema)
 
-const db = HyperDB.from(SCHEMA_DIR, DB_DIR)
 const exampleDb = db.namespace('example')
-
 exampleDb.require('./helpers.js')
 
 exampleDb.collections.register({
@@ -153,4 +152,5 @@ exampleDb.indexes.register({
   key: ['name', 'tags']
 })
 
+Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
 HyperDB.toDisk(db)
diff --git a/builder/index.js b/builder/index.js
index ca0f32a..19b7ce7 100644
--- a/builder/index.js
+++ b/builder/index.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 const p = require('path')
 const fs = require('fs')
-const Hyperschema = require('hyperschema')
 
 const generateCode = require('./codegen')
 
@@ -9,7 +8,6 @@ const INDEX_TYPE = 2
 
 const DB_JSON_FILE_NAME = 'db.json'
 const CODE_FILE_NAME = 'index.js'
-const MESSAGES_FILE_NAME = 'messages.js'
 
 class DBType {
   constructor (builder, namespace, description) {
@@ -269,12 +267,10 @@ class BuilderNamespace {
 }
 
 class Builder {
-  constructor (schema, dbJson, { offset = 0, dbDir = null, schemaDir = null } = {}) {
-    this.schema = schema
+  constructor (dbJson, { offset = 0, dbDir = null } = {}) {
     this.version = dbJson ? dbJson.version : 0
     this.offset = dbJson ? dbJson.offset : offset
     this.dbDir = dbDir
-    this.schemaDir = schemaDir
 
     this.namespaces = new Map()
     this.typesByName = new Map()
@@ -311,6 +307,8 @@ class Builder {
   }
 
   registerCollection (description, namespace) {
+    if (!this.schema) throw new Error('registerSchema must be called with a Hyperschema instance before registering collections')
+
     const fqn = getFQN(namespace, description.name)
     // TODO: also validate this for invalid mutations if it was hydrated from JSON
     if (this.typesByName.has(fqn)) return
@@ -322,6 +320,8 @@ class Builder {
   }
 
   registerIndex (description, namespace) {
+    if (!this.schema) throw new Error('registerSchema must be called with a Hyperschema instance before registering collections')
+
     const fqn = getFQN(namespace, description.name)
     // TODO: also validate this for invalid mutations if it was hydrated from JSON
     if (this.typesByName.has(fqn)) return
@@ -339,6 +339,11 @@ class Builder {
     return ns
   }
 
+  registerSchema (schema) {
+    if (this.schema) throw new Error('Already registered a hyperschema instance')
+    this.schema = schema
+  }
+
   toJSON () {
     return {
       version: this.version,
@@ -357,17 +362,14 @@ class Builder {
 
     const { esm = this.esm } = opts
 
-    const messagesPath = p.join(p.resolve(dbDir), MESSAGES_FILE_NAME)
     const dbJsonPath = p.join(p.resolve(dbDir), DB_JSON_FILE_NAME)
     const codePath = p.join(p.resolve(dbDir), CODE_FILE_NAME)
 
-    fs.writeFileSync(messagesPath, hyperdb.schema.toCode({ esm }), { encoding: 'utf-8' })
     fs.writeFileSync(dbJsonPath, JSON.stringify(hyperdb.toJSON(), null, 2), { encoding: 'utf-8' })
     fs.writeFileSync(codePath, generateCode(hyperdb, { directory: dbDir, esm }), { encoding: 'utf-8' })
   }
 
-  static from (schemaJson, dbJson, opts) {
-    const schema = Hyperschema.from(schemaJson)
+  static from (dbJson, opts) {
     if (typeof dbJson === 'string') {
       const jsonFilePath = p.join(p.resolve(dbJson), DB_JSON_FILE_NAME)
       let exists = false
@@ -377,11 +379,11 @@ class Builder {
       } catch (err) {
         if (err.code !== 'ENOENT') throw err
       }
-      opts = { ...opts, dbDir: dbJson, schemaDir: schemaJson }
-      if (exists) return new this(schema, JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(jsonFilePath)), opts)
-      return new this(schema, null, opts)
+      opts = { ...opts, dbDir: dbJson }
+      if (exists) return new this(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(jsonFilePath)), opts)
+      return new this(null, opts)
     }
-    return new this(schema, dbJson, opts)
+    return new this(dbJson, opts)
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/indexes.js b/test/indexes.js
index 881c7e8..63e0f14 100644
--- a/test/indexes.js
+++ b/test/indexes.js
@@ -191,9 +191,9 @@ function createExampleDB (HyperDB, Hyperschema, paths) {
     ]
   })
 
-  Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
+  const db = HyperDB.from(paths.db)
+  db.registerSchema(schema)
 
-  const db = HyperDB.from(paths.schema, paths.db)
   const exampleDB = db.namespace('example')
 
   exampleDB.require(paths.helpers)
@@ -239,5 +239,6 @@ function createExampleDB (HyperDB, Hyperschema, paths) {
     }
   })
 
+  Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
   HyperDB.toDisk(db)
 }
diff --git a/test/trigger.js b/test/trigger.js
index 252fe39..ccf8e4e 100644
--- a/test/trigger.js
+++ b/test/trigger.js
@@ -65,11 +65,10 @@ function createExampleDB (HyperDB, Hyperschema, paths) {
     ]
   })
 
-  Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
+  const db = HyperDB.from(paths.db)
+  db.registerSchema(schema)
 
-  const db = HyperDB.from(paths.schema, paths.db)
   const exampleDB = db.namespace('example')
-
   exampleDB.require(paths.helpers)
 
   exampleDB.collections.register({
@@ -85,5 +84,6 @@ function createExampleDB (HyperDB, Hyperschema, paths) {
     trigger: 'triggerCountMembers'
   })
 
+  Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
   HyperDB.toDisk(db)
 }