diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 93fe42cb52..281b2bb721 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -20,3 +20,4 @@
 [568a].out
 _cgo_*
 core
+web/blob/files.go
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9dc694f154..b2f9b6cc7e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -19,11 +19,14 @@ test: build
 	go test ./...
 
 build:
+	./utility/embed-static.sh web/static web/templates | gofmt > web/blob/files.go
+	cat web/blob/files.go
 	$(MAKE) -C model
 	go build ./...
 	go build -o prometheus.build
 
 clean:
+	rm -rf web/static/blob/files.go
 	rm -rf $(TEST_ARTIFACTS)
 	$(MAKE) -C model clean
 	-find . -type f -iname '*~' -exec rm '{}' ';'
diff --git a/Makefile.TRAVIS b/Makefile.TRAVIS
index c9ee349185..b92d80dc43 100644
--- a/Makefile.TRAVIS
+++ b/Makefile.TRAVIS
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ preparation-stamp: build-dependencies
 
 build-dependencies: build-dependencies-stamp
 
-build-dependencies-stamp: bison cc mercurial protoc goprotobuf gorest go instrumentation leveldb levigo skiplist
+build-dependencies-stamp: bison cc mercurial protoc goprotobuf gorest go instrumentation leveldb levigo skiplist vim-common
 	touch $@
 
 overlay: overlay-stamp
@@ -144,6 +144,12 @@ rsync: rsync-stamp
 rsync-stamp:
 	[ -x "$$(which rsync)" ] || $(APT_GET_INSTALL) rsync
 
+vim-common: vim-common-stamp
+
+vim-common-stamp:
+	$(APT_GET_INSTALL) vim-common
+	touch $@ 
+
 test: test-stamp
 
 test-stamp: preparation source
@@ -183,4 +189,4 @@ clean:
 	-rm snappy-$(SNAPPY_VERSION).tar.gz
 
 
-.PHONY: all bison build-dependencies cc clean go goprotobuf gorest instrumentation leveldb levigo mercurial overlay preparation protoc rsync snappy source test wget
+.PHONY: all bison build-dependencies cc clean go goprotobuf gorest instrumentation leveldb levigo mercurial overlay preparation protoc rsync snappy source test wget vim-common
diff --git a/utility/embed-static.sh b/utility/embed-static.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..522610a01e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utility/embed-static.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -x
+
+cat <<EOF
+package blob
+var files = map [string] map [string] []byte {
+EOF
+
+CDIR=`pwd`
+for dir in $@
+do
+  cd "$dir"
+  echo "\"`basename $dir`\": {"
+
+  find -type f | while read file
+  do
+    name=`echo "$file"|sed 's|\.\/||'`
+    echo "\"$name\": {"
+    gzip -9 -c "$file" | xxd -p |sed 's/\(..\)/0x\1, /g'
+    echo "},"
+    echo
+  done
+  echo "},"
+  cd $CDIR
+done
+echo '}'
diff --git a/web/blob/blob.go b/web/blob/blob.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5d9e4c1353
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web/blob/blob.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package blob
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"compress/gzip"
+	"io"
+	"log"
+	"net/http"
+)
+
+const (
+	TemplateFiles = "templates"
+	StaticFiles   = "static"
+)
+
+func GetFile(bucket string, name string) ([]byte, error) {
+	reader := bytes.NewReader(files[bucket][name])
+	gz, err := gzip.NewReader(reader)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	var b bytes.Buffer
+	io.Copy(&b, gz)
+	gz.Close()
+
+	return b.Bytes(), nil
+}
+
+type Handler struct{}
+
+func (h Handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	name := r.URL.String()
+	if name == "" {
+		name = "index.html"
+	}
+
+	file, err := GetFile(StaticFiles, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		if err != io.EOF {
+			log.Printf("Could not get file: %s", err)
+		}
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+		return
+	}
+	w.Header().Set("Content-Type", http.DetectContentType(file))
+	w.Write(file)
+}
diff --git a/web/status.go b/web/status.go
index f8a7ed0ae4..7f6bf6396d 100644
--- a/web/status.go
+++ b/web/status.go
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ package web
 import (
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/appstate"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/retrieval"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/web/blob"
 	"html/template"
+	"log"
 	"net/http"
 )
 
@@ -38,6 +40,11 @@ func (h *StatusHandler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		Status:      "TODO: add status information here",
 		TargetPools: h.appState.TargetManager.Pools(),
 	}
-	t, _ := template.ParseFiles("web/templates/status.html")
+	templateFile, err := blob.GetFile(blob.TemplateFiles, "status.html")
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("Could not read template: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	t, _ := template.New("status").Parse(string(templateFile))
 	t.Execute(w, status)
 }
diff --git a/web/web.go b/web/web.go
index 827d3bad83..b7a9f4350d 100644
--- a/web/web.go
+++ b/web/web.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/appstate"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/web/api"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/web/blob"
 	"net/http"
 	_ "net/http/pprof"
 )
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ func StartServing(appState *appstate.ApplicationState) {
 	http.Handle("/status", &StatusHandler{appState: appState})
 	http.Handle("/api/", gorest.Handle())
 	http.Handle("/metrics.json", exporter)
-	http.Handle("/static/", http.StripPrefix("/static/", http.FileServer(http.Dir("web/static"))))
+	http.Handle("/static/", http.StripPrefix("/static/", new(blob.Handler)))
 
 	go http.ListenAndServe(*listenAddress, nil)
 }