diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 913a149b9eda..f2b64bee7a55 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ projects/*
 !projects/*.*
 !projects/Makefile
 .venv
+deps-install
+deps-download
 
 #==============================================================================#
 # Autotools artifacts
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9bc7a46e0fe7..198766d6441e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -85,11 +85,13 @@ dependencies for a given platform.
 ### Setting up dependencies
 
 The following setup scripts use the `DEPENDENCY_DIR` environment variable to set the
-location of the build packages. If you do not set this variable, it will default to
-the current working directory.
+location to download and build packages. This defaults to `deps-download` in the current
+working directory. Use `INSTALL_PREFIX` to set the install directory of the packages.
+This defaults to `deps-install` in the current working directory on MacOS.
 
 ```shell
 $ export DEPENDENCY_DIR=/path/to/your/dependencies
+$ export INSTALL_PREFIX=/Users/$USERNAME/velox/velox_dependency_install
 ```
 
 ### Setting up on macOS
@@ -97,7 +99,6 @@ $ export DEPENDENCY_DIR=/path/to/your/dependencies
 On a MacOS machine (either Intel or Apple silicon) you can setup and then build like so:
 
 ```shell
-$ export INSTALL_PREFIX=/Users/$USERNAME/velox/velox_dependency_install
 $ ./scripts/setup-macos.sh
 $ make
 ```
diff --git a/scripts/setup-helper-functions.sh b/scripts/setup-helper-functions.sh
index bf5e7d9c5c55..7d3802f5da42 100755
--- a/scripts/setup-helper-functions.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup-helper-functions.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 # github_checkout $REPO $VERSION $GIT_CLONE_PARAMS clones or re-uses an existing clone of the
 # specified repo, checking out the requested version.
 
+DEPENDENCY_DIR=${DEPENDENCY_DIR:-$(pwd)/deps-download}
+
 function run_and_time {
   time "$@" || (echo "Failed to run $* ." ; exit 1 )
   { echo "+ Finished running $*"; } 2> /dev/null
@@ -156,29 +158,36 @@ function get_cxx_flags {
 function wget_and_untar {
   local URL=$1
   local DIR=$2
+  mkdir -p "${DEPENDENCY_DIR}"
+  pushd "${DEPENDENCY_DIR}"
   mkdir -p "${DIR}"
   pushd "${DIR}"
   curl -L "${URL}" > $2.tar.gz
   tar -xz --strip-components=1 -f $2.tar.gz
   popd
+  popd
 }
 
 function cmake_install {
+  local DWLD_DIR=$(pwd)
+  mkdir -p "${DEPENDENCY_DIR}"
+  pushd "${DEPENDENCY_DIR}"
   if [ -d "$1" ]; then
     DIR="$1"
     shift
   else
     DIR=$(pwd)
   fi
+  pushd "${DIR}"
   local NAME=$(basename "$(pwd)")
   local BINARY_DIR=_build
   SUDO="${SUDO:-""}"
-  pushd "${DIR}"
   if [ -d "${BINARY_DIR}" ] && prompt "Do you want to rebuild ${NAME}?"; then
     ${SUDO} rm -rf "${BINARY_DIR}"
   fi
   mkdir -p "${BINARY_DIR}"
   COMPILER_FLAGS=$(get_cxx_flags)
+  COMPILER_FLAGS+=${CXXFLAGS}
 
   # CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE is required so that Velox can be built into dynamic libraries \
   cmake -Wno-dev -B"${BINARY_DIR}" \
@@ -194,5 +203,6 @@ function cmake_install {
   cmake --build "${BINARY_DIR}" || { echo 'build failed' ; exit 1; }
   ${SUDO} cmake --install "${BINARY_DIR}"
   popd
+  popd
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/setup-macos.sh b/scripts/setup-macos.sh
index d4eb3315e573..e723545c7ca9 100755
--- a/scripts/setup-macos.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup-macos.sh
@@ -29,12 +29,12 @@ set -e # Exit on error.
 set -x # Print commands that are executed.
 
 SCRIPTDIR=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")
+INSTALL_PREFIX=${INSTALL_PREFIX:-"$(pwd)/deps-install"}
 source $SCRIPTDIR/setup-helper-functions.sh
 PYTHON_VENV=${PYHTON_VENV:-"${SCRIPTDIR}/../.venv"}
-
+export CXXFLAGS=" -isystem $(brew --prefix)/include"
 NPROC=$(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN)
 
-DEPENDENCY_DIR=${DEPENDENCY_DIR:-$(pwd)}
 MACOS_VELOX_DEPS="bison flex gflags glog googletest icu4c libevent libsodium lz4 lzo openssl protobuf@21 snappy xz zstd"
 MACOS_BUILD_DEPS="ninja cmake ccache"
 FB_OS_VERSION="v2024.05.20.00"
diff --git a/scripts/setup-ubuntu.sh b/scripts/setup-ubuntu.sh
index e40bba1d9923..b3ec1a25cd28 100755
--- a/scripts/setup-ubuntu.sh
+++ b/scripts/setup-ubuntu.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ source $SCRIPTDIR/setup-helper-functions.sh
 COMPILER_FLAGS=$(get_cxx_flags)
 export COMPILER_FLAGS
 NPROC=$(getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN)
-DEPENDENCY_DIR=${DEPENDENCY_DIR:-$(pwd)}
 BUILD_DUCKDB="${BUILD_DUCKDB:-true}"
 export CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
 SUDO="${SUDO:-"sudo --preserve-env"}"