diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 6d24df02..113629ba 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -313,14 +313,6 @@ else()
   set(MLX_BUILD_ACCELERATE OFF)
 endif()
 
-message(STATUS "Downloading json")
-FetchContent_Declare(
-  json
-  URL https://github.com/nlohmann/json/releases/download/v3.11.3/json.tar.xz)
-FetchContent_MakeAvailable(json)
-target_include_directories(
-  mlx PRIVATE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${json_SOURCE_DIR}/single_include/nlohmann>)
-
 # Add standalone JACCL library (RDMA over Thunderbolt distributed backend)
 if(MLX_BUILD_CPU
    AND ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Darwin"