diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 7eb8f28..3b631bf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ jobs:
       - uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
           php-version: ${{ matrix.php }}
-      - run: composer remove --dev phpunit/phpunit
-      - run: php examples/index.php &
+      - run: composer install -d tests/install-as-dep/
+      - run: php tests/install-as-dep/public/index.php &
       - run: bash tests/await.sh
       - run: bash tests/acceptance.sh
 
@@ -71,9 +71,9 @@ jobs:
       - uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
           php-version: ${{ matrix.php }}
-      - run: composer remove --dev phpunit/phpunit
-      - run: docker run -d -v "$PWD":/home/framework-x php:${{ matrix.php }}-fpm
-      - run: docker run -d -p 80:80 --link $(docker ps -qn1):php -v "$PWD":/home/framework-x -v "$PWD"/examples/nginx/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf nginx:stable-alpine
+      - run: composer install -d tests/install-as-dep/
+      - run: docker run -d -v "$PWD/tests/install-as-dep/":/home/framework-x/ -v "$PWD/examples/index.php":/home/framework-x/public/index.php -v "$PWD/LICENSE":/home/framework-x/LICENSE -v "$PWD/tests/":/home/framework-x/tests/ php:${{ matrix.php }}-fpm
+      - run: docker run -d -p 80:80 --link $(docker ps -qn1):php -v "$PWD/tests/install-as-dep/":/home/framework-x/ -v "$PWD"/examples/nginx/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf nginx:stable-alpine
       - run: bash tests/await.sh http://localhost
       - run: bash tests/acceptance.sh http://localhost
 
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ jobs:
       - uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
           php-version: ${{ matrix.php }}
-      - run: composer remove --dev phpunit/phpunit
-      - run: docker run -d -p 80:80 -v "$PWD":/home/framework-x php:${{ matrix.php }}-apache sh -c "rmdir /var/www/html;ln -s /home/framework-x/examples/apache /var/www/html;ln -s /etc/apache2/mods-available/rewrite.load /etc/apache2/mods-enabled; apache2-foreground"
+      - run: composer install -d tests/install-as-dep/
+      - run: docker run -d -p 80:80 -v "$PWD/tests/install-as-dep/":/home/framework-x/ -v "$PWD/examples/index.php":/home/framework-x/public/index.php -v "$PWD/LICENSE":/home/framework-x/LICENSE -v "$PWD/tests/":/home/framework-x/tests/ -v "$PWD/examples/apache/.htaccess":/home/framework-x/public/.htaccess php:${{ matrix.php }}-apache sh -c "rmdir /var/www/html;ln -s /home/framework-x/public /var/www/html;ln -s /etc/apache2/mods-available/rewrite.load /etc/apache2/mods-enabled; apache2-foreground"
       - run: bash tests/await.sh http://localhost
       - run: bash tests/acceptance.sh http://localhost
 
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
         with:
           php-version: ${{ matrix.php }}
-      - run: composer remove --dev phpunit/phpunit
-      - run: php -S localhost:8080 examples/index.php &
+      - run: composer install -d tests/install-as-dep/
+      - run: php -S localhost:8080 tests/install-as-dep/public/index.php &
       - run: bash tests/await.sh
       - run: bash tests/acceptance.sh
diff --git a/examples/apache/index.php b/examples/apache/index.php
deleted file mode 100644
index bc3f8c8..0000000
--- a/examples/apache/index.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-require __DIR__ . '/../index.php';
diff --git a/examples/index.php b/examples/index.php
index 0659a02..ce94efc 100644
--- a/examples/index.php
+++ b/examples/index.php
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface;
 use React\Stream\ThroughStream;
 
-require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
+// example uses `@include` for test suite only, real-world examples should use `require` instead
+// require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
+@include __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
 
 $app = new FrameworkX\App();
 
diff --git a/examples/nginx/nginx.conf b/examples/nginx/nginx.conf
index bb50a8d..529a1c8 100644
--- a/examples/nginx/nginx.conf
+++ b/examples/nginx/nginx.conf
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 server {
-    root /home/framework-x/examples/nginx/public;
+    root /home/framework-x/public;
     index index.php index.html;
 
     location / {
diff --git a/examples/nginx/public/index.php b/examples/nginx/public/index.php
deleted file mode 100644
index d04099f..0000000
--- a/examples/nginx/public/index.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-require __DIR__ . '/../../index.php';
diff --git a/phpunit.xml.dist b/phpunit.xml.dist
index a7580a3..6eb0fab 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml.dist
+++ b/phpunit.xml.dist
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
     <testsuites>
         <testsuite name="Framework X test suite">
             <directory>./tests/</directory>
+            <exclude>./tests/install-as-dep/</exclude>
         </testsuite>
     </testsuites>
     <coverage>
diff --git a/phpunit.xml.legacy b/phpunit.xml.legacy
index cb0fd89..4b0eafb 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml.legacy
+++ b/phpunit.xml.legacy
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     <testsuites>
         <testsuite name="Framework X test suite">
             <directory>./tests/</directory>
+            <exclude>./tests/install-as-dep/</exclude>
         </testsuite>
     </testsuites>
     <filter>
diff --git a/tests/install-as-dep/.gitignore b/tests/install-as-dep/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c8153b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/install-as-dep/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/composer.lock
+/vendor/
diff --git a/tests/install-as-dep/composer.json b/tests/install-as-dep/composer.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d404fd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/install-as-dep/composer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{
+    "require": {
+        "clue/framework-x": "*@dev",
+        "react/async": "^4@dev || ^3@dev"
+    },
+    "repositories": [
+        {
+            "type": "path",
+            "url": "../../",
+            "options": {
+                "symlink": false
+            }
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/tests/install-as-dep/public/index.php b/tests/install-as-dep/public/index.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9ee1d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/install-as-dep/public/index.php
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<?php
+
+require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
+
+require __DIR__ . '/../../../examples/index.php';