diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index d9e77a9..d6af21b 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@ sudo: false
 language: node_js
 node_js:
   - '4'
-  - '5'
   - '6'
-  - '7'
+  - '8'
 script:
   - npm test
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 87986e6..c6b3bcd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+3.0.0 / 2017-08-06
+------------------
+
+### Changed
+- `graceful-fs` is now a regular dependency, and is always loaded. This should speed up `require` time.
+
 2.1.0 / 2017-04-25
 ------------------
 
diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index 8e30f28..8aeb13b 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -3,9 +3,7 @@ environment:
   matrix:
     # node.js
     - nodejs_version: "4"
-    - nodejs_version: "5"
     - nodejs_version: "6"
-    - nodejs_version: "7"
 
 # Install scripts. (runs after repo cloning)
 install:
diff --git a/klaw-sync.js b/klaw-sync.js
index 12fbecb..d66c3da 100644
--- a/klaw-sync.js
+++ b/klaw-sync.js
@@ -1,27 +1,36 @@
 'use strict'
+const fs = require('graceful-fs')
 const path = require('path')
-let fs
-try {
-  fs = require('graceful-fs')
-} catch (e) {
-  fs = require('fs')
-}
 
 function klawSync (dir, opts, ls) {
-  function procPath (pathItem) {
-    const stat = fs.lstatSync(pathItem)
-    const item = {path: pathItem, stats: stat}
-    if (stat.isDirectory()) {
+  opts = opts || {}
+  ls = ls || []
+  dir = path.resolve(dir)
+  const files = fs.readdirSync(dir)
+  for (let i = 0; i < files.length; i += 1) {
+    // here dir already resolved, we use string concatenation since
+    // showed better performance than path.join() and path.resolve()
+    let pathItem
+    if (path.sep === '/') pathItem = dir + '/' + files[i]
+    else pathItem = dir + '\\' + files[i]
+    procPath(pathItem)
+  }
+  return ls
+
+  function procPath (pi) {
+    const st = fs.lstatSync(pi)
+    const item = {path: pi, stats: st}
+    if (st.isDirectory()) {
       if (opts.filter) {
         if (opts.filter(item) && !opts.nodir) {
           ls.push(item)
-          ls = klawSync(pathItem, opts, ls)
+          ls = klawSync(pi, opts, ls)
         } else {
-          if (!opts.noRecurseOnFailedFilter) ls = klawSync(pathItem, opts, ls)
+          if (!opts.noRecurseOnFailedFilter) ls = klawSync(pi, opts, ls)
         }
       } else {
         if (!opts.nodir) ls.push(item)
-        ls = klawSync(pathItem, opts, ls)
+        ls = klawSync(pi, opts, ls)
       }
     } else {
       if (opts.filter) {
@@ -31,20 +40,6 @@ function klawSync (dir, opts, ls) {
       }
     }
   }
-
-  opts = opts || {}
-  ls = ls || []
-  dir = path.resolve(dir)
-  const files = fs.readdirSync(dir)
-  for (let i = 0; i < files.length; i += 1) {
-    // here dir already resolved, we use string concatenation since
-    // showed better performance than path.join() and path.resolve()
-    let pathItem
-    if (path.sep === '/') pathItem = dir + '/' + files[i]
-    else pathItem = dir + '\\' + files[i]
-    procPath(pathItem)
-  }
-  return ls
 }
 
 module.exports = klawSync
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4c7532b..ea170ca 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,17 +21,17 @@
     "url": "https://github.com/manidlou/node-klaw-sync/issues"
   },
   "homepage": "https://github.com/manidlou/node-klaw-sync#readme",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "graceful-fs": "^4.1.11"
+  },
   "devDependencies": {
     "benchmark": "^2.1.4",
     "fs-extra": "^1.0.0",
-    "glob": "^7.1.1",
+    "glob": "^7.1.2",
     "minimist": "^1.2.0",
-    "mocha": "^3.2.0",
+    "mocha": "^3.5.0",
     "standard": "^8.6.0",
-    "walk-sync": "^0.3.1"
-  },
-  "optionalDependencies": {
-    "graceful-fs": "^4.1.11"
+    "walk-sync": "^0.3.2"
   },
   "standard": {
     "env": [