diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a56eb24..95aa16c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 *.dll
 *.so
 *.dylib
-
+build/tools
 # Test binary, build with `go test -c`
 *.test
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fd722e7..4c3a896 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -21,5 +21,4 @@ linters: # @HELP examines Go source code and reports coding problems
 	golangci-lint run
 
 license_check: # @HELP examine and ensure license headers exist
-	@if [ ! -d "../build-tools" ]; then cd .. && git clone https://github.com/onosproject/build-tools.git; fi
-	./../build-tools/licensing/boilerplate.py -v --rootdir=${CURDIR}
+	./build/bin/license-check
diff --git a/build/bin/license-check b/build/bin/license-check
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..04b8e2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/bin/license-check
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+if [ ! -d "build/tools" ]; then
+    git clone https://github.com/onosproject/build-tools.git build/tools
+fi
+
+git -C build/tools checkout v0.6.1
+
+./build/tools/licensing/boilerplate.py -v --rootdir=$(pwd)
diff --git a/build/tools b/build/tools
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..c8fbce0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/tools
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit c8fbce08644883d801b90346f8a53ebd60e6f988