diff --git a/.gitlab/build.sh b/.gitlab/build.sh
index 52226d497..aca925a8c 100755
--- a/.gitlab/build.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/build.sh
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ EXTRA_BUILD_ARGS=${3:-""}
 UCX_VERSION=${UCX_VERSION:-v1.19.0}
 # EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION is the version of EFA installer to use, defaults to "latest"
 EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION=${EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION:-latest}
+# LIBFABRIC_VERSION is the version of libfabric to build override default with env variable.
+LIBFABRIC_VERSION=${LIBFABRIC_VERSION:-v2.3.0}
+# LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_DIR can be set via environment variable, defaults to INSTALL_DIR
+LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_DIR=${LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_DIR:-$INSTALL_DIR}
 
 if [ -z "$INSTALL_DIR" ]; then
     echo "Usage: $0 <install_dir> <ucx_install_dir>"
@@ -123,10 +127,30 @@ curl -fSsL "https://github.com/openucx/ucx/tarball/${UCX_VERSION}" | tar xz
         $SUDO ldconfig \
 )
 
-curl -fsSL "https://efa-installer.amazonaws.com/aws-efa-installer-${EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION}.tar.gz" | tar xz
+wget --tries=3 --waitretry=5 -O "aws-efa-installer-${EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION}.tar.gz" "https://efa-installer.amazonaws.com/aws-efa-installer-${EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION}.tar.gz"
+tar xzf "aws-efa-installer-${EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION}.tar.gz"
+rm "aws-efa-installer-${EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION}.tar.gz"
 ( \
   cd aws-efa-installer && \
-  $SUDO ./efa_installer.sh -y -g --skip-kmod --skip-limit-conf --no-verify && \
+  $SUDO ./efa_installer.sh -y --minimal --skip-kmod --skip-limit-conf --no-verify && \
+  $SUDO ldconfig \
+)
+
+wget --tries=3 --waitretry=5 -O "libfabric-${LIBFABRIC_VERSION#v}.tar.bz2" "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric/releases/download/${LIBFABRIC_VERSION}/libfabric-${LIBFABRIC_VERSION#v}.tar.bz2"
+tar xjf "libfabric-${LIBFABRIC_VERSION#v}.tar.bz2"
+rm "libfabric-${LIBFABRIC_VERSION#v}.tar.bz2"
+( \
+  cd libfabric-* && \
+  ./autogen.sh && \
+  ./configure --prefix="${LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_DIR}" \
+              --disable-verbs \
+              --disable-psm3 \
+              --disable-opx \
+              --disable-usnic \
+              --disable-rstream \
+              --enable-efa && \
+  make -j && \
+  make install && \
   $SUDO ldconfig \
 )
 
@@ -152,10 +176,10 @@ curl -fsSL "https://efa-installer.amazonaws.com/aws-efa-installer-${EFA_INSTALLE
 )
 
 export LIBRARY_PATH="$LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/local/cuda/lib64"
-export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib:${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/$ARCH-linux-gnu:${INSTALL_DIR}/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/local/cuda/lib64:/usr/local/cuda/lib64/stubs:${INSTALL_DIR}/lib:/opt/amazon/efa/lib"
-export CPATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/include:/opt/amazon/efa/include:$CPATH"
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib:${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/$ARCH-linux-gnu:${INSTALL_DIR}/lib64:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/local/cuda/lib64:/usr/local/cuda/lib64/stubs:${INSTALL_DIR}/lib:${LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_DIR}/lib"
+export CPATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/include:${LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_DIR}/include:$CPATH"
 export PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/bin:$PATH"
-export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig:${INSTALL_DIR}/lib64/pkgconfig:${INSTALL_DIR}:/opt/amazon/efa/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"
+export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig:${INSTALL_DIR}/lib64/pkgconfig:${INSTALL_DIR}:${LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_DIR}/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"
 export NIXL_PLUGIN_DIR="${INSTALL_DIR}/lib/$ARCH-linux-gnu/plugins"
 export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}:${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH}"
 
@@ -164,7 +188,7 @@ export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${INSTALL_DIR}:${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH}"
 export UCX_TLS=^cuda_ipc
 
 # shellcheck disable=SC2086
-meson setup nixl_build --prefix=${INSTALL_DIR} -Ducx_path=${UCX_INSTALL_DIR} -Dbuild_docs=true -Drust=false ${EXTRA_BUILD_ARGS} -Dlibfabric_path="/opt/amazon/efa"
+meson setup nixl_build --prefix=${INSTALL_DIR} -Ducx_path=${UCX_INSTALL_DIR} -Dbuild_docs=true -Drust=false ${EXTRA_BUILD_ARGS} -Dlibfabric_path="${LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_DIR}"
 ninja -C nixl_build && ninja -C nixl_build install
 
 # TODO(kapila): Copy the nixl.pc file to the install directory if needed.
diff --git a/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/Dockerfile b/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/Dockerfile
index dff89c482..29ce19e3b 100644
--- a/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/Dockerfile
+++ b/benchmark/nixlbench/contrib/Dockerfile
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ RUN apt-get update -y && \
     libz-dev \
     flex \
     libgtest-dev \
+    hwloc \
+    libhwloc-dev \
     build-essential
 
 # Add DOCA repository and install packages
@@ -104,11 +106,38 @@ ARG DEFAULT_PYTHON_VERSION
 ARG WHL_PYTHON_VERSIONS="3.12"
 ARG WHL_PLATFORM="manylinux_2_39_$ARCH"
 ARG BUILD_TYPE="release"
-ARG EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION="latest"
-ARG EFA_INSTALL_PATH="/opt/amazon/efa"
+ARG LIBFABRIC_VERSION="v2.3.0"
 ARG NPROC
 
 WORKDIR /workspace
+
+# Build libfabric from source
+# Install RDMA/EFA packages required for libfabric EFA provider
+RUN DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get update && apt-get -y install \
+    --reinstall libibverbs-dev rdma-core ibverbs-utils libibumad-dev \
+    libnuma-dev librdmacm-dev ibverbs-providers
+
+# Build libfabric from source
+RUN wget --tries=3 --waitretry=5 --timeout=30 --read-timeout=60 \
+    "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric/releases/download/${LIBFABRIC_VERSION}/libfabric-${LIBFABRIC_VERSION#v}.tar.bz2" -O libfabric.tar.bz2 && \
+    tar xjf libfabric.tar.bz2 && rm libfabric.tar.bz2 && \
+    cd libfabric-* && \
+    ./autogen.sh && \
+    ./configure --prefix=/usr/local \
+                --disable-verbs \
+                --disable-psm3 \
+                --disable-opx \
+                --disable-usnic \
+                --disable-rstream \
+                --enable-efa \
+                --with-cuda=/usr/local/cuda \
+                --enable-cuda-dlopen \
+                --with-gdrcopy \
+                --enable-gdrcopy-dlopen && \
+    make -j${NPROC:-$(nproc)} && \
+    make install && \
+    ldconfig
+
 RUN git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/etcd-cpp-apiv3/etcd-cpp-apiv3.git && \
     cd etcd-cpp-apiv3 && \
     sed -i '/^find_dependency(cpprestsdk)$/d' etcd-cpp-api-config.in.cmake && \
@@ -122,11 +151,6 @@ COPY --from=nixlbench . /workspace/nixlbench
 # Install AWS SDK C++ dependencies and build
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libcurl4-openssl-dev libssl-dev uuid-dev zlib1g-dev hwloc libhwloc-dev
 
-# Install EFA (Elastic Fabric Adapter)
-RUN curl -fsSL "https://efa-installer.amazonaws.com/aws-efa-installer-${EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION}.tar.gz" | tar xz && \
-    cd aws-efa-installer && \
-    ./efa_installer.sh -y -g --skip-kmod --skip-limit-conf --no-verify && \
-    ldconfig
 
 RUN git clone --recurse-submodules --depth 1 --shallow-submodules https://github.com/aws/aws-sdk-cpp.git --branch 1.11.581 && \
     mkdir sdk_build && \
@@ -137,7 +161,7 @@ RUN git clone --recurse-submodules --depth 1 --shallow-submodules https://github
 
 WORKDIR /workspace/nixl
 
-ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$EFA_INSTALL_PATH/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
 
 ENV VIRTUAL_ENV=/workspace/nixl/.venv
 RUN uv venv $VIRTUAL_ENV --python $DEFAULT_PYTHON_VERSION && \
@@ -149,7 +173,7 @@ RUN CUDA_SHORT_VERSION=cu$(echo $CUDA_VERSION | cut -d. -f1,2 | tr -d .) && \
 
 RUN rm -rf build && \
     mkdir build && \
-    uv run meson setup build -Dlibfabric_path=$EFA_INSTALL_PATH --prefix=/usr/local/nixl --buildtype=$BUILD_TYPE && \
+    uv run meson setup build --prefix=/usr/local/nixl --buildtype=$BUILD_TYPE && \
     cd build && \
     ninja && \
     ninja install
diff --git a/contrib/Dockerfile b/contrib/Dockerfile
index ba16ae0aa..c02880eeb 100644
--- a/contrib/Dockerfile
+++ b/contrib/Dockerfile
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ ARG NIXL_PREFIX="/usr/local/nixl"
 ARG NIXL_PLUGIN_DIR="$NIXL_PREFIX/lib/$ARCH-linux-gnu/plugins"
 ARG NPROC
 ARG WHL_DEFAULT_PYTHON_VERSIONS="3.12"
-ARG EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION="latest"
-ARG EFA_INSTALL_PATH="/opt/amazon/efa"
+ARG LIBFABRIC_VERSION="v2.3.0"
+ARG LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_PATH="/usr/local"
 
 RUN apt-get update -y && \
     apt-get install -y ubuntu-keyring && \
@@ -74,11 +74,6 @@ RUN git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/etcd-cpp-apiv3/etcd-cpp-apiv3.git &&
     mkdir build && cd build && \
     cmake .. -DBUILD_ETCD_CORE_ONLY=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release && make -j${NPROC:-$(nproc)} && make install
 
-# Install EFA (Elastic Fabric Adapter)
-RUN curl -fsSL "https://efa-installer.amazonaws.com/aws-efa-installer-${EFA_INSTALLER_VERSION}.tar.gz" | tar xz && \
-    cd aws-efa-installer && \
-    ./efa_installer.sh -y -g --skip-kmod --skip-limit-conf --no-verify && \
-    ldconfig
 
 RUN git clone --recurse-submodules --depth 1 --shallow-submodules https://github.com/aws/aws-sdk-cpp.git --branch 1.11.581 && \
     mkdir aws_sdk_build && cd aws_sdk_build && \
@@ -140,10 +135,31 @@ RUN cd /usr/local/src && \
      make -j${NPROC:-$(nproc)} install-strip &&  \
      ldconfig
 
+# Build libfabric from source
+RUN wget --tries=3 --waitretry=5 --timeout=30 --read-timeout=60 \
+    "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric/releases/download/${LIBFABRIC_VERSION}/libfabric-${LIBFABRIC_VERSION#v}.tar.bz2" -O libfabric.tar.bz2 && \
+    tar xjf libfabric.tar.bz2 && rm libfabric.tar.bz2 && \
+    cd libfabric-* && \
+    ./autogen.sh && \
+    ./configure --prefix="${LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_PATH}" \
+                --disable-verbs \
+                --disable-psm3 \
+                --disable-opx \
+                --disable-usnic \
+                --disable-rstream \
+                --enable-efa \
+                --with-cuda=/usr/local/cuda \
+                --enable-cuda-dlopen \
+                --with-gdrcopy \
+                --enable-gdrcopy-dlopen && \
+    make -j${NPROC:-$(nproc)} && \
+    make install && \
+    ldconfig
+
 WORKDIR /workspace/nixl
 COPY . /workspace/nixl
 
-ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$EFA_INSTALL_PATH/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+ENV LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_PATH/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
 
 ENV VIRTUAL_ENV=/workspace/nixl/.venv
 RUN rm -rf $VIRTUAL_ENV && uv venv $VIRTUAL_ENV --python $DEFAULT_PYTHON_VERSION && \
@@ -156,7 +172,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends pybind11-dev
 ENV NIXL_PREFIX=$NIXL_PREFIX
 RUN rm -rf build && \
     mkdir build && \
-    uv run meson setup -Dlibfabric_path=$EFA_INSTALL_PATH build/ --prefix=$NIXL_PREFIX && \
+    uv run meson setup -Dlibfabric_path=$LIBFABRIC_INSTALL_PATH build/ --prefix=$NIXL_PREFIX && \
     cd build && \
     ninja && \
     ninja install
diff --git a/contrib/Dockerfile.manylinux b/contrib/Dockerfile.manylinux
index 507f0f12e..5ba854ef6 100644
--- a/contrib/Dockerfile.manylinux
+++ b/contrib/Dockerfile.manylinux
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ FROM ${BASE_IMAGE}:${BASE_IMAGE_TAG}
 ARG DEFAULT_PYTHON_VERSION="3.12"
 ARG ARCH="x86_64"
 ARG UCX_REF="v1.19.0"
+ARG LIBFABRIC_VERSION="v2.3.0"
 
 RUN yum groupinstall -y 'Development Tools' &&  \
     dnf install -y almalinux-release-synergy && \
@@ -53,6 +54,8 @@ RUN yum groupinstall -y 'Development Tools' &&  \
     libibumad-devel \
     numactl-devel \
     librdmacm-devel \
+    hwloc \
+    hwloc-devel \
     wget \
     zlib
 
@@ -198,6 +201,27 @@ RUN cd /usr/local/src && \
      make -j install-strip &&        \
      ldconfig
 
+# Build libfabric from source
+RUN wget --tries=3 --waitretry=5 --timeout=30 --read-timeout=60 \
+    "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric/releases/download/${LIBFABRIC_VERSION}/libfabric-${LIBFABRIC_VERSION#v}.tar.bz2" -O libfabric.tar.bz2 && \
+    tar xjf libfabric.tar.bz2 && rm libfabric.tar.bz2 && \
+    cd libfabric-* && \
+    ./autogen.sh && \
+    ./configure --prefix=/usr/local \
+                --disable-verbs \
+                --disable-psm3 \
+                --disable-opx \
+                --disable-usnic \
+                --disable-rstream \
+                --enable-efa \
+                --with-cuda=/usr/local/cuda \
+                --enable-cuda-dlopen \
+                --with-gdrcopy \
+                --enable-gdrcopy-dlopen && \
+    make -j$(nproc) && \
+    make install && \
+    ldconfig
+
 COPY . /workspace/nixl
 
 RUN rm -rf build && \
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 19f3f3b51..8a7be09c9 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -155,9 +155,16 @@ libfabric_path = get_option('libfabric_path')
 if libfabric_path != ''
   libfabric_lib_path = libfabric_path + '/lib'
   libfabric_inc_path = libfabric_path + '/include'
-  libfabric_dep = declare_dependency(
-    link_args : ['-L' + libfabric_lib_path, '-lfabric'],
-    include_directories : include_directories(libfabric_inc_path))
+  # Check if path is absolute
+  if libfabric_inc_path.startswith('/')
+    libfabric_dep = declare_dependency(
+      link_args : ['-L' + libfabric_lib_path, '-lfabric'],
+      compile_args : ['-I' + libfabric_inc_path])
+  else
+    libfabric_dep = declare_dependency(
+      link_args : ['-L' + libfabric_lib_path, '-lfabric'],
+      include_directories : include_directories(libfabric_inc_path))
+  endif
 else
   libfabric_dep = dependency('libfabric', required: false)
 endif