diff --git a/docs/building.md b/docs/building.md
index b4a25ca08..08dfd2086 100644
--- a/docs/building.md
+++ b/docs/building.md
@@ -60,6 +60,35 @@ without pkg-config metadata has to be pointed at by hand.
 MSVC via the `.vcxproj` files; there is no autotools path. See `CLAUDE.md` for
 the GANL test harness invocation. Note issue #1499 (`/utf-8`).
 
+**Third-party dependencies come from vcpkg** (#2212). `mux/vcpkg.json` declares
+them — currently `grpc`, `nlohmann-json` and `pcre2` — pinned to a
+`builtin-baseline` commit:
+
+```
+git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg C:\vcpkg
+C:\vcpkg\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat
+cd mux && C:\vcpkg\vcpkg.exe install --triplet x64-windows
+```
+
+That materialises `mux/vcpkg_installed/x64-windows/` (gitignored), which every
+project reads via `$(VcpkgDir)`. Release libraries land in `lib/` and debug in
+`debug/lib/` — not `Release/` and `Debug/`, which is what the old hand-built
+PCRE2 layout used.
+
+Two things that will waste your afternoon otherwise:
+
+- **Do not `git clone --depth 1`.** The pinned baseline commit is not in a
+  shallow clone and resolution fails with `failed to git show
+  versions/baseline.json`. Recover with
+  `git fetch --depth 1 origin <baseline-sha>`.
+- **First run is slow** — grpc dominates, roughly an hour and ~11 GB. It is a
+  one-time cost: vcpkg's binary cache (`%LOCALAPPDATA%\vcpkg\archives`) makes
+  any later tree a few seconds.
+
+PCRE2's JIT is required (`funceval2.cpp` calls `pcre2_jit_compile`) and arrives
+automatically — the port's `platform-default-features` pulls in `jit` on every
+platform except emscripten and iOS, so a plain `"pcre2"` dependency is enough.
+
 ## When you still need flags
 
 **`--enable-nls` on macOS.** GNU gettext ships no `.pc` file, so unlike PCRE2
diff --git a/mux/libmux.vcxproj b/mux/libmux.vcxproj
index eca36fca8..00ddefb31 100644
--- a/mux/libmux.vcxproj
+++ b/mux/libmux.vcxproj
@@ -37,19 +37,20 @@
   <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" />
   <PropertyGroup>
     <_ProjectFileVersion>12.0.30501.0</_ProjectFileVersion>
-    <!-- #2185: paths relative to this file (mux\), not C:\tinymux. -->
+    <!-- #2185: paths relative to this file (mux\), not C:\tinymux.
+         #2212: PCRE2 headers come from vcpkg (see mux\vcpkg.json). -->
     <MuxDir Condition="'$(MuxDir)' == ''">$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)</MuxDir>
-    <Pcre2Dir Condition="'$(Pcre2Dir)' == ''">$(MuxDir)\src\pcre2</Pcre2Dir>
+    <VcpkgDir Condition="'$(VcpkgDir)' == ''">$(MuxDir)\vcpkg_installed\x64-windows</VcpkgDir>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
     <OutDir>.\bin_release\</OutDir>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\$(ProjectName)\</IntDir>
-    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(Pcre2Dir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(VcpkgDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
     <OutDir>.\bin_debug\</OutDir>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\$(ProjectName)\</IntDir>
-    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(Pcre2Dir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(VcpkgDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
     <Midl>
diff --git a/mux/modules/engine/engine.vcxproj b/mux/modules/engine/engine.vcxproj
index cf17a7c0c..ef0147de5 100644
--- a/mux/modules/engine/engine.vcxproj
+++ b/mux/modules/engine/engine.vcxproj
@@ -37,19 +37,23 @@
   <PropertyGroup Label="UserMacros" />
   <PropertyGroup>
     <_ProjectFileVersion>12.0.30501.0</_ProjectFileVersion>
-    <!-- #2185: this file is mux\modules\engine\; MuxDir is mux\. -->
+    <!-- #2185: this file is mux\modules\engine\; MuxDir is mux\.
+         #2212: PCRE2 comes from vcpkg (see mux\vcpkg.json).  This project
+         previously took its headers from $(Pcre2Dir) but hardcoded the
+         library directory, so an override applied to one and not the
+         other; both now come from the same place. -->
     <MuxDir Condition="'$(MuxDir)' == ''">$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\..\..</MuxDir>
-    <Pcre2Dir Condition="'$(Pcre2Dir)' == ''">$(MuxDir)\src\pcre2</Pcre2Dir>
+    <VcpkgDir Condition="'$(VcpkgDir)' == ''">$(MuxDir)\vcpkg_installed\x64-windows</VcpkgDir>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
     <OutDir>..\..\bin_release\</OutDir>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\$(ProjectName)\</IntDir>
-    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(MuxDir)\lua54;$(Pcre2Dir)\include;$(MuxDir)\ganl\include;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(MuxDir)\lua54;$(VcpkgDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\ganl\include;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
     <OutDir>..\..\bin_debug\</OutDir>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\$(ProjectName)\</IntDir>
-    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(MuxDir)\lua54;$(Pcre2Dir)\include;$(MuxDir)\ganl\include;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(MuxDir)\lua54;$(VcpkgDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\ganl\include;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
     <Midl>
@@ -80,7 +84,7 @@
     </ResourceCompile>
     <Link>
       <AdditionalDependencies>libmux.lib;ganl.lib;lua54.lib;pcre2-8.lib;ws2_32.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
-      <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>..\..\bin_release;..\..\src\pcre2\Release;%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
+      <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>..\..\bin_release;$(VcpkgDir)\lib;%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
       <ModuleDefinitionFile />
       <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
       <RandomizedBaseAddress>true</RandomizedBaseAddress>
@@ -110,7 +114,7 @@
     </ResourceCompile>
     <Link>
       <AdditionalDependencies>libmux.lib;ganl.lib;lua54.lib;pcre2-8d.lib;ws2_32.lib;%(AdditionalDependencies)</AdditionalDependencies>
-      <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>..\..\bin_debug;..\..\src\pcre2\Debug;%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
+      <AdditionalLibraryDirectories>..\..\bin_debug;$(VcpkgDir)\debug\lib;%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)</AdditionalLibraryDirectories>
       <ModuleDefinitionFile />
       <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
       <DataExecutionPrevention />
diff --git a/mux/netmux.vcxproj b/mux/netmux.vcxproj
index 923af7b76..0e9055908 100644
--- a/mux/netmux.vcxproj
+++ b/mux/netmux.vcxproj
@@ -38,23 +38,25 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
     <_ProjectFileVersion>12.0.30501.0</_ProjectFileVersion>
     <!-- #2185: never hardcode C:\tinymux.  This file lives in mux\, so
-         MSBuildProjectDirectory is the mux root for this tree.  PCRE2 is
-         gitignored out-of-tree; override with -p:Pcre2Dir=... to share one
-         staged copy across checkouts (include\ plus Debug/Release libs). -->
+         MSBuildProjectDirectory is the mux root for this tree.
+         #2212: PCRE2 comes from vcpkg now, the same way grpc does — declared
+         in mux\vcpkg.json, materialised by `vcpkg install` run from mux\.
+         vcpkg's layout puts release libs in lib\ and debug libs in
+         debug\lib\, not Release\ and Debug\. -->
     <MuxDir Condition="'$(MuxDir)' == ''">$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)</MuxDir>
-    <Pcre2Dir Condition="'$(Pcre2Dir)' == ''">$(MuxDir)\src\pcre2</Pcre2Dir>
+    <VcpkgDir Condition="'$(VcpkgDir)' == ''">$(MuxDir)\vcpkg_installed\x64-windows</VcpkgDir>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
     <OutDir>.\bin_debug\</OutDir>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\$(ProjectName)\</IntDir>
-    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\ganl\include;$(Pcre2Dir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
-    <LibraryPath>$(Pcre2Dir)\Debug;$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
+    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\ganl\include;$(VcpkgDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
+    <LibraryPath>$(VcpkgDir)\debug\lib;$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
     <OutDir>.\bin_release\</OutDir>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\$(ProjectName)\</IntDir>
-    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\ganl\include;$(Pcre2Dir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
-    <LibraryPath>$(Pcre2Dir)\Release;$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
+    <IncludePath>$(MuxDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\ganl\include;$(VcpkgDir)\include;$(MuxDir)\sqlite;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
+    <LibraryPath>$(VcpkgDir)\lib;$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
     <Midl>
diff --git a/mux/vcpkg.json b/mux/vcpkg.json
index cc73c5abc..420cef630 100644
--- a/mux/vcpkg.json
+++ b/mux/vcpkg.json
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   "builtin-baseline": "544a4c5c297e60e4ac4a5a1810df66748d908869",
   "dependencies": [
     "grpc",
-    "nlohmann-json"
+    "nlohmann-json",
+    "pcre2"
   ]
 }
diff --git a/unix/TOC.patchable b/unix/TOC.patchable
index e1ecad4b9..7187e8b25 100644
--- a/unix/TOC.patchable
+++ b/unix/TOC.patchable
@@ -402,3 +402,4 @@ src/websocket.cpp
 src/websocket.h
 SSL.md
 UPGRADING.md
+vcpkg.json
diff --git a/win32/TOC.src.patchable b/win32/TOC.src.patchable
index 923bc3be4..52257d322 100644
--- a/win32/TOC.src.patchable
+++ b/win32/TOC.src.patchable
@@ -393,3 +393,4 @@ src/websocket.cpp
 src/websocket.h
 SSL.md
 UPGRADING.md
+vcpkg.json