diff --git a/docs/CHANGES.TXT b/docs/CHANGES.TXT
index 58dc97f76..1c41d9b7a 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGES.TXT
+++ b/docs/CHANGES.TXT
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 0.96.2 (2025-12-26)
 -------------------
+- Fix: Resolve utf8proc header include path when building against system libraries on Linux.
 - Rebundle Windows version to include required runtime files to process hardcoded subtitles
   (hardcodex mode).
 - New: Add optional -system-libs flag to Linux build script for package manager compatibility
diff --git a/linux/build b/linux/build
index f4ad398ae..4d498ca09 100755
--- a/linux/build
+++ b/linux/build
@@ -65,13 +65,6 @@ if [ "$USE_SYSTEM_LIBS" = true ]; then
     
     PKG_CFLAGS="$(pkg-config --cflags libpng zlib freetype2 libutf8proc)"
     PKG_LIBS="$(pkg-config --libs libpng zlib freetype2 libutf8proc)"
-    
-    UTF8PROC_COMPAT=""
-    if [ ! -d /usr/include/utf8proc ] && [ -f /usr/include/utf8proc.h ]; then
-        mkdir -p ./utf8proc_compat/utf8proc
-        ln -sf /usr/include/utf8proc.h ./utf8proc_compat/utf8proc/utf8proc.h
-        UTF8PROC_COMPAT="-I./utf8proc_compat"
-    fi
 fi
 
 BLD_FLAGS="$BLD_FLAGS -std=gnu99 -Wno-write-strings -Wno-pointer-sign -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -DVERSION_FILE_PRESENT -DENABLE_OCR -DGPAC_DISABLE_VTT -DGPAC_DISABLE_OD_DUMP -DGPAC_DISABLE_REMOTERY -DNO_GZIP"
@@ -140,7 +133,7 @@ if [ "$USE_SYSTEM_LIBS" = true ]; then
     GPAC_CFLAGS="$(pkg-config --cflags --silence-errors gpac)"
 
     BLD_INCLUDE="-I../src -I../src/lib_ccx -I../src/lib_ccx/zvbi -I../src/thirdparty/lib_hash \
-    $UTF8PROC_COMPAT $PKG_CFLAGS $LEPTONICA_CFLAGS $TESSERACT_CFLAGS $GPAC_CFLAGS"
+    $PKG_CFLAGS $LEPTONICA_CFLAGS $TESSERACT_CFLAGS $GPAC_CFLAGS"
 
     BLD_SOURCES="../src/ccextractor.c $SRC_CCX $SRC_HASH"
     # Preserve FFmpeg libraries if -hardsubx was specified
diff --git a/src/lib_ccx/params.c b/src/lib_ccx/params.c
index 38bfb4cf9..b87b7337b 100644
--- a/src/lib_ccx/params.c
+++ b/src/lib_ccx/params.c
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@
 #include "../lib_hash/sha2.h"
 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#if __has_include(<utf8proc.h>)
+#include <utf8proc.h>
+#else
 #include <utf8proc/utf8proc.h>
-
+#endif
 #ifdef ENABLE_OCR
 #include <tesseract/capi.h>
 #include <leptonica/allheaders.h>