diff --git a/.github/workflows/cmake.yml b/.github/workflows/cmake.yml
index dafa309..23e8e85 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cmake.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cmake.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jobs:
       uses: py-actions/py-dependency-install@v4
 
     - name: Install C++ dependencies
-      run: sudo apt-get install -y libboost-program-options-dev libmicrohttpd-dev libfmt-dev pybind11-dev
+      run: sudo apt-get install -y libmicrohttpd-dev libfmt-dev pybind11-dev
 
     - name: Build and install libhttpserver
       run: |
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index b510d98..d560a54 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++20")
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "/usr/local/share/cmake/Modules")
 
 find_package(Python COMPONENTS Interpreter Development)
-find_package(Boost REQUIRED program_options)
 find_package(fmt REQUIRED)
 find_package(LibHttpServer MODULE REQUIRED)
 find_package(pybind11 REQUIRED)
@@ -20,7 +19,7 @@ find_package(pybind11 REQUIRED)
 include(CTest)
 
 add_executable(tuberd src/server.cpp)
-target_link_libraries(tuberd PRIVATE Boost::program_options fmt::fmt ${LIBHTTPSERVER_LIBRARIES} pybind11::embed)
+target_link_libraries(tuberd PRIVATE fmt::fmt ${LIBHTTPSERVER_LIBRARIES} pybind11::embed)
 
 pybind11_add_module(test_module MODULE tests/test_module.cpp)
 target_include_directories(test_module PUBLIC ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
diff --git a/src/server.cpp b/src/server.cpp
index 63e5d17..83e2c03 100644
--- a/src/server.cpp
+++ b/src/server.cpp
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <chrono>
 #include <queue>
-#include <boost/program_options.hpp>
+#include <getopt.h>
 
 #include <httpserver.hpp>
 #include <httpserver/http_utils.hpp>
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ using namespace pybind11::literals;
 
 using namespace httpserver;
 
-namespace po = boost::program_options;
 namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
 /* Formatter for Python objects */
@@ -365,62 +364,89 @@ static void sigint(int signo) {
 		ws->stop();
 }
 
+/* pretty print CLI options */
+#define PRINTOPT(o, h) \
+  fmt::print("  {}\n      {}\n", o, h)
+#define PRINTOPT2(o, h, d) \
+  fmt::print("  {}\n      {} (default: {})\n", o, h, d)
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 	/*
 	 * Parse command-line arguments
 	 */
 
-	int port;
-	int max_age;
-	bool orjson_with_numpy=false;
-	std::string preamble, registry, webroot;
-	std::string json_module;
-
-	po::options_description desc("tuberd");
-	desc.add_options()
-		("help,h", "produce help message")
-
-		("max-age",
-		 po::value<int>(&max_age)->default_value(3600),
-		 "maximum cache residency for static (file) assets")
-
-		("json,j",
-		 po::value<std::string>(&json_module)->default_value("json"),
-		 "Python JSON module to use for serialization/deserialization")
-
-		("orjson-with-numpy",
-		 po::bool_switch(&orjson_with_numpy)->default_value(false),
-		 "Use ORJSON module with fast NumPy serialization support")
-
-		("port,p",
-		 po::value<int>(&port)->default_value(80),
-		 "port")
-
-		("preamble",
-		 po::value<std::string>(&preamble)->default_value("/usr/share/tuberd/preamble.py"),
-		 "location of slow-path Python code")
-
-		("registry",
-		 po::value<std::string>(&registry)->default_value("/usr/share/tuberd/registry.py"),
-		 "location of registry Python code")
-
-		("webroot,w",
-		 po::value<std::string>(&webroot)->default_value("/var/www/"),
-		 "location to serve static content")
-
-		("verbose,v",
-		 po::value<Verbose>(&verbose),
-		 "verbosity (default: 0)")
-
-		;
-
-	po::variables_map vm;
-	po::store(po::parse_command_line(argc, argv, desc), vm);
-	po::notify(vm);
-
-	if(vm.count("help")) {
-		std::cout << desc << std::endl;
-		return 1;
+	int port = 80;
+	int max_age = 3600;
+	int orjson_with_numpy = 0;
+	std::string preamble = "/usr/share/tuberd/preamble.py";
+	std::string registry = "/usr/share/tuberd/registry.py";
+	std::string webroot = "/var/www/";
+	std::string json_module = "json";
+
+	const option long_opts[] = {
+		{"orjson-with-numpy", no_argument, &orjson_with_numpy, 1},
+		{"max-age", required_argument, nullptr, 'a'},
+		{"json", required_argument, nullptr, 'j'},
+		{"port", required_argument, nullptr, 'p'},
+		{"preamble", required_argument, nullptr, 'm'},
+		{"registry", required_argument, nullptr, 'r'},
+		{"webroot", required_argument, nullptr, 'w'},
+		{"verbose", required_argument, nullptr, 'v'},
+		{"help", no_argument, nullptr, 'h'},
+		{nullptr, no_argument, nullptr, 0}
+	};
+
+	while (true) {
+		const auto c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "j:p:w:v:h", long_opts, nullptr);
+		if (c == -1)
+			break;
+
+		switch (c) {
+		case 0:
+			break;
+		case 'a':
+			max_age = std::stoi(optarg);
+			break;
+		case 'j':
+			json_module = std::string(optarg);
+			break;
+		case 'p':
+			port = std::stoi(optarg);
+			break;
+		case 'm':
+			preamble = std::string(optarg);
+			break;
+		case 'r':
+			registry = std::string(optarg);
+			break;
+		case 'w':
+			webroot = std::string(optarg);
+			break;
+		case 'v':
+			verbose = static_cast<Verbose>(std::stoi(optarg));
+			break;
+		case 'h':
+		case '?':
+		default:
+			fmt::print("Usage: {} [options]\n\nOptions:\n", argv[0]);
+			PRINTOPT("-h [ --help ]", "produce help message");
+			PRINTOPT2("--max-age N",
+			    "maximum cache residency for static (file) assets", max_age);
+			PRINTOPT2("-j [ --json ] NAME",
+			    "Python JSON module to use for serialization/deserialization",
+			    json_module);
+			PRINTOPT("--orjson-with-numpy",
+			    "use ORJSON module with fast NumPy serialization support");
+			PRINTOPT2("-p [ --port ] PORT", "port", port);
+			PRINTOPT2("--preamble PATH", "location of slow-path Python code",
+			    preamble);
+			PRINTOPT2("--registry PATH", "location of registry Python code",
+			    registry);
+			PRINTOPT2("-w [ --webroot ] PATH",
+			    "location to serve static content", webroot);
+			PRINTOPT2("-v [ --verbose ] N", "verbosity", (int)verbose);
+			return 1;
+		}
 	}
 
 	/*