diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8c033c5..73fbcb2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ _*
 [568].out
 *.cgo*.c
 *.cgo*.go
+tags
diff --git a/README b/README
deleted file mode 100644
index f53af52..0000000
--- a/README
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-Check out https://wiki.ubuntu.com/gozk
-
-Forked from https://github.com/youtube/vitess/tree/master/third_party/go/launchpad.net/gozk/zookeeper
-to fix panic issues in some of the watch functions.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2af762
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# gozk - Go zookeeper library via C bindings
+
+Forked from https://github.com/youtube/vitess/tree/master/third_party/go/launchpad.net/gozk/zookeeper
+
+## Requirements
+
+- zookeeper c library headers: when installed via homebrew you'll find the includes under `/opt/homebrew/include` and the shared libraries in `/opt/homebrew/lib/`. Other
+  systems such as Linux use different paths but are likely to place them under `/usr/include` and `/usr/lib`.
+- C compiler
+
+The default flags defined in zk.go **should be sufficient** for builds on Linux or MacOSX. But If you zookeeper includes and shared libraries are not in the default
+search locations (`/usr/include` and `/usr/lib`) you'll have to set environment variables to point the compiler at the right path. For example when using homebrew,
+you'll need to specify:
+
+```
+export CGO_CFLAGS='-I/opt/homebrew/include/zookeeper'
+export CGO_LDFLAGS='-L/opt/homebrew/lib'
+```
+
+On Debian Linux, used by the official go docker container, you'll needthe following libraries:
+
+* `libzookeeper-mt-dev`: header files
+* `libzookeeper-mt2`: shared libraries
+
+Set the `CGO` flags:
+
+```
+export CGO_CFLAGS='-I/usr/include/zookeeper'
+export CGO_LDFLAGS='-L/usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu'
+```
+
+Then:
+
+```
+go build
+```
+
+### Build Errors
+
+#### `zookeeper.h` not found
+Error message looks like this:
+```
+./zk.go:21:11: fatal error: zookeeper.h: No such file or directory
+   21 | // #include <zookeeper.h>
+      |           ^~~~~~~~~~~~~
+compilation terminated.
+```
+
+The include search path does not include the zookeeper includes. Check that `CGO_CFLAGS=-I` is set to a directory that contains the zookeeper includes.
+
+#### `ld: library not found`
+Error message:
+```
+ld: library not found for -lzookeeper_mt
+collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
+```
+
+The linker can't find the shared library. Ensure that `CGO_LDFLAGS=-L` points to a directory that contains the zookeeper libraries.
+
+## Historic Notes
+
+Check out https://wiki.ubuntu.com/gozk
+
+Forked from https://github.com/youtube/vitess/tree/master/third_party/go/launchpad.net/gozk/zookeeper
+to fix panic issues in some of the watch functions.
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..227c517
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+module github.com/Shopify/gozk
+
+go 1.16
+
+require launchpad.net/gocheck v0.0.0-20140225173054-000000000087
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c4b05c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+launchpad.net/gocheck v0.0.0-20140225173054-000000000087 h1:Izowp2XBH6Ya6rv+hqbceQyw/gSGoXfH/UPoTGduL54=
+launchpad.net/gocheck v0.0.0-20140225173054-000000000087/go.mod h1:hj7XX3B/0A+80Vse0e+BUHsHMTEhd0O4cpUHr/e/BUM=
diff --git a/zk.go b/zk.go
index f5ba0c4..3222950 100644
--- a/zk.go
+++ b/zk.go
@@ -8,13 +8,13 @@
 //
 package zookeeper
 
-/*
-#cgo CFLAGS: -I/usr/include/c-client-src -I/usr/include/zookeeper
-#cgo LDFLAGS: -lzookeeper_mt
-
-#include <zookeeper.h>
-#include "helpers.h"
-*/
+// #cgo CFLAGS: -DTHREADED -I/usr/include/zookeeper
+// #cgo darwin CFLAGS: -DTHREADED -I/opt/homebrew/include/zookeeper
+// #cgo LDFLAGS: -lzookeeper_mt
+// #cgo darwin LDFLAGS: -L/opt/homebrew/lib
+//
+// #include <zookeeper.h>
+// #include "helpers.h"
 import "C"
 
 import (