diff --git a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index 064549c401dd..72f72495c25b 100644
--- a/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -384,6 +384,9 @@ include(cmake/thirdparty/get_thread_pool.cmake)
 # find zstd
 include(cmake/thirdparty/get_zstd.cmake)
 
+# Build librtcx as a subdirectory (zstd and nvtx3 are already available at this point)
+add_subdirectory(librtcx)
+
 # JIT Embedding helper functions
 include(librtcx/embed.cmake)
 
@@ -402,6 +405,11 @@ if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
   if(TARGET conda_env)
     install(TARGETS conda_env EXPORT cudf-exports)
   endif()
+  install(
+    TARGETS rtcx
+    EXPORT cudf-exports
+    DESTINATION ${lib_dir}
+  )
 endif()
 
 add_embed(cudf_cuda_embed)
@@ -452,7 +460,7 @@ foreach(INC_DIR IN LISTS LIBCUDACXX_RAW_INCLUDE_DIRS)
   )
 endforeach()
 
-embed(cudf_cuda_embed COMPRESSION zstd)
+embed(cudf_cuda_embed COMPRESSION zstd OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CUDF_GENERATED_INCLUDE_DIR}/rtcx_embed")
 
 # ##################################################################################################
 # * library targets -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1009,7 +1017,6 @@ add_library(
   src/utilities/traits.cpp
   src/utilities/type_checks.cpp
   src/utilities/type_dispatcher.cpp
-  librtcx/rtcx.cpp
   ${cudf_cuda_embed_SOURCE_DIR}/cudf_cuda_embed.s
 )
 
@@ -1083,7 +1090,6 @@ target_include_directories(
           "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${nanoarrow_SOURCE_DIR}/src>"
           "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${FlatBuffers_SOURCE_DIR}/include>"
           "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${ZSTD_INCLUDE_DIR}>"
-          "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/librtcx>"
           "$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${cudf_cuda_embed_INCLUDE_DIRS}>"
   INTERFACE "$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>"
 )
@@ -1127,7 +1133,7 @@ target_link_libraries(
   cudf
   PUBLIC CCCL::CCCL $<BUILD_LOCAL_INTERFACE:BS::thread_pool>
   PRIVATE $<BUILD_LOCAL_INTERFACE:nvtx3::nvtx3-cpp> $<BUILD_LOCAL_INTERFACE:cuco::cuco> ZLIB::ZLIB
-          ${CUDF_nvcomp_TARGET} kvikio::kvikio ${CUDF_nanoarrow_TARGET} zstd
+          ${CUDF_nvcomp_TARGET} kvikio::kvikio ${CUDF_nanoarrow_TARGET} zstd rtcx::rtcx
 )
 
 # When building a shared libcudf with static deps, we absorb them via whole-archive linking so that
diff --git a/cpp/librtcx/CMakeLists.txt b/cpp/librtcx/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1cd8647982b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/librtcx/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# cmake-format: off
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# cmake-format: on
+# =============================================================================
+
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 4.0 FATAL_ERROR)
+
+if(CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR)
+  include(cmake/rapids_config.cmake)
+  include(rapids-cmake)
+  include(rapids-cpm)
+  rapids_cpm_init()
+endif()
+
+project(
+  rtcx
+  VERSION 0.1.0
+  LANGUAGES CXX
+)
+
+find_package(CUDAToolkit REQUIRED)
+
+if(NOT TARGET zstd)
+  set(CPM_DOWNLOAD_zstd ON)
+  rapids_cpm_find(
+    zstd 1.5.7
+    GLOBAL_TARGETS zstd
+    CPM_ARGS
+    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/facebook/zstd.git
+    GIT_TAG v1.5.7
+    GIT_SHALLOW FALSE SOURCE_SUBDIR build/cmake
+    OPTIONS "ZSTD_BUILD_STATIC ON" "ZSTD_BUILD_SHARED OFF" "ZSTD_BUILD_TESTS OFF"
+            "ZSTD_BUILD_PROGRAMS OFF" "BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OFF"
+  )
+
+  if(zstd_ADDED)
+    # disable weak symbols support to hide tracing APIs as well
+    target_compile_definitions(libzstd_static PRIVATE ZSTD_HAVE_WEAK_SYMBOLS=0)
+    # expose experimental API
+    target_compile_definitions(libzstd_static PUBLIC ZSTD_STATIC_LINKING_ONLY=0N)
+    # suppress warnings from uninitialized variables and redefining ZSTD_STATIC_LINKING_ONLY
+    target_compile_options(libzstd_static PRIVATE -w)
+    add_library(zstd ALIAS libzstd_static)
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+if(NOT TARGET nvtx3::nvtx3-cpp)
+  include(${rapids-cmake-dir}/cpm/nvtx3.cmake)
+  rapids_cpm_nvtx3()
+endif()
+
+add_library(rtcx STATIC rtcx.cpp)
+add_library(rtcx::rtcx ALIAS rtcx)
+
+set_target_properties(
+  rtcx
+  PROPERTIES CXX_STANDARD 20
+             CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED YES
+             CXX_VISIBILITY_PRESET hidden
+             VISIBILITY_INLINES_HIDDEN YES
+             POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON
+)
+
+target_include_directories(
+  rtcx
+  PUBLIC $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}>
+  PRIVATE ${CUDAToolkit_INCLUDE_DIRS}
+)
+
+target_link_libraries(rtcx PRIVATE zstd ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS} nvtx3::nvtx3-cpp)
diff --git a/cpp/librtcx/cmake/RAPIDS.cmake b/cpp/librtcx/cmake/RAPIDS.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a3ad5e3f481b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/librtcx/cmake/RAPIDS.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# cmake-format: off
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2021-2026, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# cmake-format: on
+# =============================================================================
+#
+# This is the preferred entry point for projects using rapids-cmake
+#
+# Enforce the minimum required CMake version for all users
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 4.0 FATAL_ERROR)
+
+# Allow users to control which version is used
+if(NOT (rapids-cmake-branch OR rapids-cmake-version))
+  message(
+    FATAL_ERROR "The CMake variable `rapids-cmake-branch` or `rapids-cmake-version` must be defined"
+  )
+endif()
+
+# Allow users to control which GitHub repo is fetched
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-repo)
+  # Define a default repo if the user doesn't set one
+  set(rapids-cmake-repo rapidsai/rapids-cmake)
+endif()
+
+# Allow users to control which branch is fetched
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-branch)
+  # Define a default branch if the user doesn't set one
+  set(rapids-cmake-branch "release/${rapids-cmake-version}")
+endif()
+
+# Allow users to control the exact URL passed to FetchContent
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-url)
+  # Construct a default URL if the user doesn't set one
+  set(rapids-cmake-url "https://github.com/${rapids-cmake-repo}/")
+
+  # In order of specificity
+  if(rapids-cmake-fetch-via-git)
+    if(rapids-cmake-sha)
+      # An exact git SHA takes precedence over anything
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "${rapids-cmake-sha}")
+    elseif(rapids-cmake-tag)
+      # Followed by a git tag name
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "${rapids-cmake-tag}")
+    else()
+      # Or if neither of the above two were defined, use a branch
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "${rapids-cmake-branch}")
+    endif()
+  else()
+    if(rapids-cmake-sha)
+      # An exact git SHA takes precedence over anything
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "archive/${rapids-cmake-sha}.zip")
+    elseif(rapids-cmake-tag)
+      # Followed by a git tag name
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "archive/refs/tags/${rapids-cmake-tag}.zip")
+    else()
+      # Or if neither of the above two were defined, use a branch
+      set(rapids-cmake-value-to-clone "archive/refs/heads/${rapids-cmake-branch}.zip")
+    endif()
+  endif()
+endif()
+
+include(FetchContent)
+if(rapids-cmake-fetch-via-git)
+  FetchContent_Declare(
+    rapids-cmake
+    GIT_REPOSITORY "${rapids-cmake-url}"
+    GIT_TAG "${rapids-cmake-value-to-clone}"
+  )
+else()
+  string(APPEND rapids-cmake-url "${rapids-cmake-value-to-clone}")
+  FetchContent_Declare(rapids-cmake URL "${rapids-cmake-url}")
+endif()
+FetchContent_GetProperties(rapids-cmake)
+if(rapids-cmake_POPULATED)
+  # Something else has already populated rapids-cmake, only thing we need to do is setup the
+  # CMAKE_MODULE_PATH
+  if(NOT "${rapids-cmake-dir}" IN_LIST CMAKE_MODULE_PATH)
+    list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${rapids-cmake-dir}")
+  endif()
+else()
+  FetchContent_MakeAvailable(rapids-cmake)
+endif()
diff --git a/cpp/librtcx/cmake/rapids_config.cmake b/cpp/librtcx/cmake/rapids_config.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..60d6971cca33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpp/librtcx/cmake/rapids_config.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# =============================================================================
+# cmake-format: off
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2018-2026, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# cmake-format: on
+# =============================================================================
+file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../../../VERSION" _rapids_version)
+if(_rapids_version MATCHES [[^([0-9][0-9])\.([0-9][0-9])\.([0-9][0-9])]])
+  set(RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR "${CMAKE_MATCH_1}")
+  set(RAPIDS_VERSION_MINOR "${CMAKE_MATCH_2}")
+  set(RAPIDS_VERSION_PATCH "${CMAKE_MATCH_3}")
+  set(RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR_MINOR "${RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR}.${RAPIDS_VERSION_MINOR}")
+  set(RAPIDS_VERSION "${RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR}.${RAPIDS_VERSION_MINOR}.${RAPIDS_VERSION_PATCH}")
+else()
+  string(REPLACE "\n" "\n  " _rapids_version_formatted "  ${_rapids_version}")
+  message(
+    FATAL_ERROR
+      "Could not determine RAPIDS version. Contents of VERSION file:\n${_rapids_version_formatted}"
+  )
+endif()
+
+file(STRINGS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../../../RAPIDS_BRANCH" RAPIDS_BRANCH)
+if(NOT RAPIDS_BRANCH)
+  message(
+    FATAL_ERROR
+      "Could not determine branch name to use for checking out rapids-cmake. The file \"${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../../../RAPIDS_BRANCH\" is missing."
+  )
+endif()
+
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-version)
+  set(rapids-cmake-version "${RAPIDS_VERSION_MAJOR_MINOR}")
+endif()
+
+if(NOT rapids-cmake-branch)
+  set(rapids-cmake-branch "${RAPIDS_BRANCH}")
+endif()
+
+include("${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/RAPIDS.cmake")
diff --git a/cpp/librtcx/embed.cmake b/cpp/librtcx/embed.cmake
index a2b60635fa4b..5713f2d72b24 100644
--- a/cpp/librtcx/embed.cmake
+++ b/cpp/librtcx/embed.cmake
@@ -183,11 +183,14 @@ function(embed_blob TARGET)
 
 endfunction()
 
+#[==[
 # This function generates the necessary files and build targets to embed the registered source files
 # for JIT compilation.
+#]==]
+# cmake-lint: disable=R0915
 function(embed TARGET)
   set(OPTIONS "")
-  set(ONE_VALUE_ARGS "COMPRESSION")
+  set(ONE_VALUE_ARGS "COMPRESSION" "OUTPUT_DIRECTORY")
   set(MULTI_VALUE_ARGS "")
   cmake_parse_arguments(ARG "${OPTIONS}" "${ONE_VALUE_ARGS}" "${MULTI_VALUE_ARGS}" ${ARGN})
 
@@ -203,6 +206,10 @@ function(embed TARGET)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "COMPRESSION argument must be either none or zstd")
   endif()
 
+  if(NOT DEFINED ARG_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "OUTPUT_DIRECTORY argument is required")
+  endif()
+
   get_property(
     EMBED_SOURCE_FILES
     TARGET ${TARGET}__embed_props
@@ -243,7 +250,7 @@ function(embed TARGET)
     PROPERTY EMBED_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
   )
 
-  set(OUTPUT_DIR "${CUDF_GENERATED_INCLUDE_DIR}/rtcx_embed")
+  set(OUTPUT_DIR "${ARG_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}")
   set(EMBED_SCRIPT_TEMPLATE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_FUNCTION_LIST_DIR}/embed.in.cpp")
   set(CONFIGURED_EMBED_SCRIPT "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${TARGET}__embed_cfg.cpp")
   set(EMBED_SCRIPT "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${TARGET}__embed.cpp")
diff --git a/cpp/librtcx/rtcx.cpp b/cpp/librtcx/rtcx.cpp
index ae2a970c5ec4..fa37a68cb467 100644
--- a/cpp/librtcx/rtcx.cpp
+++ b/cpp/librtcx/rtcx.cpp
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
 
-#include <cudf/logger.hpp>
-
 #include <cuda.h>
 #include <cuda_runtime_api.h>
 #include <nvtx3/nvtx3.hpp>
@@ -107,7 +105,7 @@ namespace rtcx {
 namespace {
 
 struct nvtx_domain {
-  static constexpr char const* name = "rtcx";
+  static constexpr char const* name [[maybe_unused]] = "rtcx";
 };
 
 enum class object_type : std::uint8_t { LIBRARY, BLOB };
@@ -154,12 +152,12 @@ std::string join_strings(std::span<StringType> strings, std::string_view separat
 
 void log_warning(std::string_view msg)
 {
-  CUDF_LOG_WARN("%.*s", static_cast<std::int32_t>(msg.size()), msg.data());
+  std::fprintf(stderr, "[rtcx] warn: %.*s\n", static_cast<int>(msg.size()), msg.data());
 }
 
 void log_error(std::string_view msg)
 {
-  CUDF_LOG_ERROR("%.*s", static_cast<std::int32_t>(msg.size()), msg.data());
+  std::fprintf(stderr, "[rtcx] error: %.*s\n", static_cast<int>(msg.size()), msg.data());
 }
 
 #define FOR_EACH_CUDA_FUNC(DO_IT)       \