diff --git a/kitty/constants.py b/kitty/constants.py
index a4170bfa7..9d0d7b5ab 100644
--- a/kitty/constants.py
+++ b/kitty/constants.py
@@ -24,14 +24,14 @@ class Version(NamedTuple):
 str_version: str = '.'.join(map(str, version))
 _plat = sys.platform.lower()
 is_macos: bool = 'darwin' in _plat
-base = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+kitty_lib_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
 
 
 @run_once
 def kitty_exe() -> str:
     rpath = sys._xoptions.get('bundle_exe_dir')
     if not rpath:
-        items = os.environ.get('PATH', '').split(os.pathsep) + [os.path.join(base, 'launcher')]
+        items = os.environ.get('PATH', '').split(os.pathsep) + [os.path.join(kitty_lib_dir, 'launcher')]
         seen: Set[str] = set()
         for candidate in filter(None, items):
             if candidate not in seen:
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ def wakeup() -> None:
         b.child_monitor.wakeup()
 
 
-base_dir = os.path.dirname(base)
+base_dir = os.path.dirname(kitty_lib_dir)
 terminfo_dir = os.path.join(base_dir, 'terminfo')
 logo_png_file = os.path.join(base_dir, 'logo', 'kitty.png')
 beam_cursor_data_file = os.path.join(base_dir, 'logo', 'beam-cursor.png')
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ def wakeup() -> None:
 
 
 def glfw_path(module: str) -> str:
-    return os.path.join(base, 'glfw-{}.so'.format(module))
+    return os.path.join(kitty_lib_dir, 'glfw-{}.so'.format(module))
 
 
 def detect_if_wayland_ok() -> bool:
@@ -186,3 +186,8 @@ def resolve_custom_file(path: str) -> str:
     if not os.path.isabs(path):
         path = os.path.join(config_dir, path)
     return path
+
+
+def read_kitty_resource(name: str) -> bytes:
+    from importlib.resources import read_binary
+    return read_binary('kitty', name)
diff --git a/kitty/utils.py b/kitty/utils.py
index 3a0f8d848..4aeb21e69 100644
--- a/kitty/utils.py
+++ b/kitty/utils.py
@@ -19,15 +19,14 @@
 )
 
 from .constants import (
-    appname, is_macos, is_wayland, shell_path, supports_primary_selection
+    appname, is_macos, is_wayland, read_kitty_resource, shell_path,
+    supports_primary_selection
 )
 from .options_stub import Options
 from .rgb import Color, to_color
 from .types import ConvertibleToNumbers, run_once
 from .typing import AddressFamily, PopenType, Socket, StartupCtx
 
-BASE = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
-
 
 def expandvars(val: str, env: Mapping[str, str] = {}, fallback_to_os_env: bool = True) -> str:
 
@@ -59,11 +58,11 @@ def platform_window_id(os_window_id: int) -> Optional[int]:
 
 def load_shaders(name: str) -> Tuple[str, str]:
     from .fast_data_types import GLSL_VERSION
-    with open(os.path.join(BASE, '{}_vertex.glsl'.format(name))) as f:
-        vert = f.read().replace('GLSL_VERSION', str(GLSL_VERSION), 1)
-    with open(os.path.join(BASE, '{}_fragment.glsl'.format(name))) as f:
-        frag = f.read().replace('GLSL_VERSION', str(GLSL_VERSION), 1)
-    return vert, frag
+
+    def load(which: str) -> str:
+        return read_kitty_resource(f'{name}_{which}.glsl').decode('utf-8').replace('GLSL_VERSION', str(GLSL_VERSION), 1)
+
+    return load('vertex'), load('fragment')
 
 
 def safe_print(*a: Any, **k: Any) -> None: