diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e95be45ff8..c505a9cba8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@ To initialize the repository don't forget to execute `git submodule update --ini
 1) `git clone https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3.git` </br>
 2) `cd rpcs3/` </br>
 3) `git submodule update --init` </br>
-4) `cmake CMakeLists.txt && make GitVersion && make` </br>
+4) `cd ../ && mkdir rpcs3_build && cd rpcs3_build`
+4) `cmake ../rpcs3/ && make GitVersion && make` </br>
 5) Run RPCS3 with `./bin/rpcs3` </br>
 
 If you are on MacOS and want to build with brew llvm and qt don't forget to add the following environment variables
diff --git a/rpcs3/CMakeLists.txt b/rpcs3/CMakeLists.txt
index d093c4c9dd..641be7d324 100644
--- a/rpcs3/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/rpcs3/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -166,6 +166,29 @@ find_package(OpenGL REQUIRED)
 find_package(OpenAL REQUIRED)
 if (NOT WITHOUT_LLVM)
 	find_package(LLVM 4.0 CONFIG)
+  if (NOT LLVM_FOUND)
+    message("System LLVM was not found, LLVM will be built from the submodule.")
+
+    set(LLVM_TARGETS_TO_BUILD "X86" CACHE INTERNAL "")
+    option(LLVM_BUILD_RUNTIME OFF)
+    option(LLVM_BUILD_TOOLS OFF)
+    option(LLVM_INCLUDE_DOCS OFF)
+    option(LLVM_INCLUDE_EXAMPLES OFF)
+    option(LLVM_INCLUDE_TESTS OFF)
+    option(LLVM_INCLUDE_TOOLS OFF)
+    option(LLVM_INCLUDE_UTILS OFF)
+    option(WITH_POLLY OFF)
+
+    # LLVM needs to be built out-of-tree
+    add_subdirectory(../llvm ../llvm_build)
+    set(LLVM_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/../llvm_build/lib/cmake/llvm/")
+
+    # now tries to find LLVM again
+    find_package(LLVM 4.0 CONFIG)
+    if (NOT LLVM_FOUND)
+      message(WARNING "Couldn't build LLVM from the submodule. You might need to run `git submodule update --init`")
+    endif()
+  endif()
 endif()