diff --git a/BUGS_TODO.md b/BUGS_TODO.md
index aa4c5e9..ee89864 100644
--- a/BUGS_TODO.md
+++ b/BUGS_TODO.md
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@ No known bugs at the moment.
 
 ## TODO
 
-- Consider vendoring wrapper files so `android-builder new` does not need a system `gradle` binary at generation time.
+No open TODOs at the moment.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f1f0b7d..e818102 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ The CLI is now split into smaller scripts for readability and maintenance:
 
 - Gradle settings and properties
 - a single `app` module
-- a real Gradle wrapper for the generated project
+- vendored Gradle wrapper files for the generated project
 - a minimal `MainActivity`
 - a simple default theme and string resources
 
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ The template defaults are controlled in one place through environment variables:
 - `ANDROID_BUILDER_AGP_VERSION` defaults to `8.5.2`
 - `ANDROID_BUILDER_GRADLE_DISTRIBUTION_SHA256` defaults to the official checksum for `gradle-8.7-bin.zip`
 
+The project generator and the generated projects themselves do not need a system `gradle` binary anymore.
+
 ## Notes
 
 - The project is designed around Termux.
diff --git a/bin/android-builder b/bin/android-builder
index 36ea698..7d9fc93 100755
--- a/bin/android-builder
+++ b/bin/android-builder
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ case "$COMMAND" in
       -h|--help) TARGET="help" ;;
     esac
     shift || true
-    exec "$ROOT_DIR/lib/commands/$TARGET.sh" "$@"
+    exec bash "$ROOT_DIR/lib/commands/$TARGET.sh" "$@"
     ;;
   *)
     echo "Unknown command: $COMMAND"
diff --git a/lib/commands/build.sh b/lib/commands/build.sh
index 90cb7c3..2717c33 100755
--- a/lib/commands/build.sh
+++ b/lib/commands/build.sh
@@ -20,5 +20,7 @@ if [ -f ./gradlew ]; then
   chmod +x ./gradlew
   ./gradlew "$TASK"
 else
-  gradle "$TASK"
+  echo "Error: ./gradlew is missing."
+  echo "This project needs the vendored Gradle wrapper generated by android-builder new."
+  exit 1
 fi
diff --git a/lib/commands/doctor.sh b/lib/commands/doctor.sh
index a030d20..7a42936 100755
--- a/lib/commands/doctor.sh
+++ b/lib/commands/doctor.sh
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@ echo
 
 java -version
 echo
-gradle -v | grep Gradle
-echo
 aapt2 version
 echo
 
diff --git a/lib/commands/setup.sh b/lib/commands/setup.sh
index d097086..d65fc69 100755
--- a/lib/commands/setup.sh
+++ b/lib/commands/setup.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ ensure_termux
 echo "==> Installing packages"
 pkg update -y
 pkg install -y git curl wget unzip zip nano \
-  openjdk-21 gradle aapt2 apksigner d8 dx android-tools
+  openjdk-21 aapt2 apksigner d8 dx android-tools
 
 echo "==> Configuring Java"
 JAVA_BIN="$(command -v java)"
diff --git a/lib/common.sh b/lib/common.sh
index bb6c8a8..e6a0059 100644
--- a/lib/common.sh
+++ b/lib/common.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ PLATFORM="${ANDROID_BUILDER_PLATFORM:-android-33}"
 GRADLE_VERSION="${ANDROID_BUILDER_GRADLE_VERSION:-8.7}"
 AGP_VERSION="${ANDROID_BUILDER_AGP_VERSION:-8.5.2}"
 GRADLE_DISTRIBUTION_SHA256="${ANDROID_BUILDER_GRADLE_DISTRIBUTION_SHA256:-544c35d6bd849ae8a5ed0bcea39ba677dc40f49df7d1835561582da2009b961d}"
+TEMPLATE_DIR="$ROOT_DIR/templates/gradle-wrapper"
 
 ensure_termux() {
   if [ -z "${PREFIX:-}" ] || [ ! -d "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr" ]; then
@@ -16,14 +17,6 @@ ensure_termux() {
   fi
 }
 
-require_gradle() {
-  if ! command -v gradle >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    echo "Error: gradle is required to generate the project wrapper."
-    echo "Run: android-builder setup"
-    exit 1
-  fi
-}
-
 set_gradle_wrapper_sha256() {
   WRAPPER_PROPERTIES="$1"
 
@@ -59,8 +52,6 @@ get_apk_path() {
 }
 
 create_base_project() {
-  require_gradle
-
   NAME="$1"
   MESSAGE="$2"
   PACKAGE="com.example.$(echo "$NAME" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | tr -cd 'a-z0-9')"
@@ -179,7 +170,19 @@ public class MainActivity extends Activity {
 }
 EOF2
 
-  (cd "$NAME" && gradle wrapper --gradle-version "$GRADLE_VERSION" --distribution-type bin)
+  mkdir -p "$NAME/gradle/wrapper"
+  cp "$TEMPLATE_DIR/gradle-wrapper.jar" "$NAME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar"
+  cp "$TEMPLATE_DIR/gradlew" "$NAME/gradlew"
+  chmod +x "$NAME/gradlew"
+
+  cat > "$NAME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties" <<EOF2
+distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+distributionPath=wrapper/dists
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-$GRADLE_VERSION-bin.zip
+distributionSha256Sum=$GRADLE_DISTRIBUTION_SHA256
+zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
+EOF2
   set_gradle_wrapper_sha256 "$NAME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties"
 
   echo "Created project: $NAME"
diff --git a/templates/gradle-wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar b/templates/gradle-wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e644113
Binary files /dev/null and b/templates/gradle-wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar differ
diff --git a/templates/gradle-wrapper/gradlew b/templates/gradle-wrapper/gradlew
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..3a79bb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/gradle-wrapper/gradlew
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+APP_HOME="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd -P)"
+exec java -classpath "$APP_HOME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar" org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain "$@"