diff --git a/example.js b/example.js
index 4a2c839..4e65623 100644
--- a/example.js
+++ b/example.js
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 const Hyperschema = require('hyperschema')
+const Hyperdispatch = require('hyperdispatch')
 
 const SCHEMA_DIR = './spec/hyperschema'
+const DISPATCH_DIR = './spec/hyperdispatch'
 
 const schema = Hyperschema.from(SCHEMA_DIR)
 const ns1 = schema.namespace('example')
@@ -22,12 +24,9 @@ ns1.register({
 })
 
 // Write the schema to disk
-Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
 
-const Hyperdispatch = require('hyperdispatch')
-
-const DISPATCH_DIR = './spec/hyperdispatch'
-const hyperdispatch = Hyperdispatch.from(SCHEMA_DIR, DISPATCH_DIR)
+const hyperdispatch = Hyperdispatch.from(DISPATCH_DIR)
+hyperdispatch.registerSchema(schema)
 
 const ns2 = hyperdispatch.namespace('example')
 
@@ -45,7 +44,8 @@ ns2.register({
   requestType: '@example/request2'
 })
 
-// Write the hyperdispatch configuration to disk
+// Write the hyperdispatch/hyperschema configurations to disk
+Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
 Hyperdispatch.toDisk(hyperdispatch)
 
 const { Router, dispatch } = require('./spec/hyperdispatch')
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index f911a0a..a768c0a 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 const p = require('path')
 const fs = require('fs')
-const Hyperschema = require('hyperschema')
 
 const generateCode = require('./lib/codegen')
 
 const CODE_FILE_NAME = 'index.js'
-const MESSAGES_FILE_NAME = 'messages.js'
 const DISPATCH_JSON_FILE_NAME = 'dispatch.json'
 
 class HyperdispatchNamespace {
@@ -21,12 +19,11 @@ class HyperdispatchNamespace {
 }
 
 module.exports = class Hyperdispatch {
-  constructor (schema, dispatchJson, { offset, dispatchDir = null, schemaDir = null } = {}) {
-    this.schema = schema
+  constructor (dispatchJson, { offset, dispatchDir = null } = {}) {
     this.version = dispatchJson ? dispatchJson.version : 0
     this.offset = dispatchJson ? dispatchJson.offset : (offset || 0)
     this.dispatchDir = dispatchDir
-    this.schemaDir = schemaDir
+    this.schema = null
 
     this.namespaces = new Map()
     this.handlersByName = new Map()
@@ -51,6 +48,8 @@ module.exports = class Hyperdispatch {
   }
 
   register (fqn, description) {
+    if (!this.schema) throw new Error('registerSchema must be called with a Hyperschema instance before registering handlers')
+
     const existingByName = this.handlersByName.get(fqn)
     const existingById = Number.isInteger(description.id) ? this.handlersById.get(description.id) : null
     if (existingByName && existingById) {
@@ -89,6 +88,11 @@ module.exports = class Hyperdispatch {
     }
   }
 
+  registerSchema (schema) {
+    if (this.schema) throw new Error('Already registered a hyperschema instance')
+    this.schema = schema
+  }
+
   toJSON () {
     return {
       version: this.version,
@@ -96,8 +100,7 @@ module.exports = class Hyperdispatch {
     }
   }
 
-  static from (schemaJson, dispatchJson, opts) {
-    const schema = Hyperschema.from(schemaJson)
+  static from (dispatchJson, opts) {
     if (typeof dispatchJson === 'string') {
       const jsonFilePath = p.join(p.resolve(dispatchJson), DISPATCH_JSON_FILE_NAME)
       let exists = false
@@ -107,23 +110,21 @@ module.exports = class Hyperdispatch {
       } catch (err) {
         if (err.code !== 'ENOENT') throw err
       }
-      opts = { ...opts, dispatchDir: dispatchJson, schemaDir: schemaJson }
-      if (exists) return new this(schema, JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(jsonFilePath)), opts)
-      return new this(schema, null, opts)
+      opts = { ...opts, dispatchDir: dispatchJson }
+      if (exists) return new this(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(jsonFilePath)), opts)
+      return new this(null, opts)
     }
-    return new this(schema, dispatchJson, opts)
+    return new this(dispatchJson, opts)
   }
 
   static toDisk (hyperdispatch, dispatchDir) {
     if (!dispatchDir) dispatchDir = hyperdispatch.dispatchDir
     fs.mkdirSync(dispatchDir, { recursive: true })
 
-    const messagesPath = p.join(p.resolve(dispatchDir), MESSAGES_FILE_NAME)
     const dispatchJsonPath = p.join(p.resolve(dispatchDir), DISPATCH_JSON_FILE_NAME)
     const codePath = p.join(p.resolve(dispatchDir), CODE_FILE_NAME)
 
     fs.writeFileSync(dispatchJsonPath, JSON.stringify(hyperdispatch.toJSON(), null, 2), { encoding: 'utf-8' })
-    fs.writeFileSync(messagesPath, hyperdispatch.schema.toCode(), { encoding: 'utf-8' })
-    fs.writeFileSync(codePath, generateCode(hyperdispatch), { encoding: 'utf-8' })
+    fs.writeFileSync(codePath, generateCode(hyperdispatch, { directory: dispatchDir }), { encoding: 'utf-8' })
   }
 }
diff --git a/lib/codegen.js b/lib/codegen.js
index 9bc7cff..f3ec344 100644
--- a/lib/codegen.js
+++ b/lib/codegen.js
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
+const p = require('path')
 const s = require('generate-string')
 
-module.exports = function generateCode (hyperdispatch) {
+module.exports = function generateCode (hyperdispatch, { directory = '.' } = {}) {
+  const messagesPath = p.relative(p.resolve(directory), hyperdispatch.schema.dir).replaceAll('\\', '/')
+
   let str = ''
   str += '// This file is autogenerated by the hyperdispatch compiler\n'
   str += '/* eslint-disable camelcase */\n'
   str += '\n'
   str += 'const { c, b4a, assert } = require(\'hyperdispatch/runtime\')\n'
-  str += 'const { version, getEncoding, setVersion } = require(\'./messages.js\')\n'
+  str += `const { version, getEncoding, setVersion } = require(${s(messagesPath)})\n`
   str += '\n'
   str += 'const defaultVersion = version\n'
   str += '\n'
diff --git a/test/helpers/index.js b/test/helpers/index.js
index ed022fb..c18aab5 100644
--- a/test/helpers/index.js
+++ b/test/helpers/index.js
@@ -17,9 +17,13 @@ class TestBuilder {
   rebuild (builder, opts) {
     const schema = Hyperschema.from(this.schemaDir)
     builder.schema(schema)
-    Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
-    const hyperdispatch = Hyperdispatch.from(this.schemaDir, this.dispatchDir, opts)
+
+    const hyperdispatch = Hyperdispatch.from(this.dispatchDir, opts)
+    hyperdispatch.registerSchema(schema)
+
     builder.dispatch(hyperdispatch)
+
+    Hyperschema.toDisk(schema)
     Hyperdispatch.toDisk(hyperdispatch)
 
     if (this.module) {