diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 0dfdca3..d54bd28 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -52,8 +52,6 @@ pub fn build(b: *zbs.Builder) !void {
         "Set to true to install fish completion for riverctl. Defaults to true.",
     ) orelse true;
 
-    const examples = b.option(bool, "examples", "Set to true to build examples") orelse false;
-
     const full_version = blk: {
         if (mem.endsWith(u8, version, "-dev")) {
             var ret: u8 = undefined;
@@ -152,23 +150,6 @@ pub fn build(b: *zbs.Builder) !void {
         );
     }
 
-    if (examples) {
-        inline for (.{"status"}) |example_name| {
-            const example = b.addExecutable(example_name, "example/" ++ example_name ++ ".zig");
-            example.setTarget(target);
-            example.setBuildMode(mode);
-
-            example.step.dependOn(&scanner.step);
-            example.addPackage(scanner.getPkg());
-            example.linkLibC();
-            example.linkSystemLibrary("wayland-client");
-
-            scanner.addCSource(example);
-
-            example.install();
-        }
-    }
-
     {
         const river_test = b.addTest("river/test_main.zig");
         river_test.setTarget(target);
diff --git a/example/status.zig b/example/status.zig
deleted file mode 100644
index 76437a4..0000000
--- a/example/status.zig
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,93 +0,0 @@
-// This file is part of river, a dynamic tiling wayland compositor.
-//
-// Copyright 2020 The River Developers
-//
-// This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
-// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
-// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
-// (at your option) any later version.
-//
-// This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
-// GNU General Public License for more details.
-//
-// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
-// along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-const std = @import("std");
-
-const wayland = @import("wayland");
-const wl = wayland.client.wl;
-const zriver = wayland.client.zriver;
-
-const SetupContext = struct {
-    status_manager: ?*zriver.StatusManagerV1 = null,
-    outputs: std.ArrayList(*wl.Output) = std.ArrayList(*wl.Output).init(std.heap.c_allocator),
-    seats: std.ArrayList(*wl.Seat) = std.ArrayList(*wl.Seat).init(std.heap.c_allocator),
-};
-
-pub fn main() !void {
-    const display = try wl.Display.connect(null);
-    const registry = try display.getRegistry();
-
-    var context = SetupContext{};
-
-    registry.setListener(*SetupContext, registryListener, &context);
-    _ = try display.roundtrip();
-
-    const status_manager = context.status_manager orelse return error.RiverStatusManagerNotAdvertised;
-
-    for (context.outputs.items) |output| {
-        const output_status = try status_manager.getRiverOutputStatus(output);
-        output_status.setListener(?*c_void, outputStatusListener, null);
-    }
-    for (context.seats.items) |seat| {
-        const seat_status = try status_manager.getRiverSeatStatus(seat);
-        seat_status.setListener(?*c_void, seatStatusListener, null);
-    }
-    context.outputs.deinit();
-    context.seats.deinit();
-
-    // Loop forever, listening for new events.
-    while (true) _ = try display.dispatch();
-}
-
-fn registryListener(registry: *wl.Registry, event: wl.Registry.Event, context: *SetupContext) void {
-    switch (event) {
-        .global => |global| {
-            if (std.cstr.cmp(global.interface, zriver.StatusManagerV1.getInterface().name) == 0) {
-                context.status_manager = registry.bind(global.name, zriver.StatusManagerV1, 1) catch return;
-            } else if (std.cstr.cmp(global.interface, wl.Seat.getInterface().name) == 0) {
-                const seat = registry.bind(global.name, wl.Seat, 1) catch return;
-                context.seats.append(seat) catch @panic("out of memory");
-            } else if (std.cstr.cmp(global.interface, wl.Output.getInterface().name) == 0) {
-                const output = registry.bind(global.name, wl.Output, 1) catch return;
-                context.outputs.append(output) catch @panic("out of memory");
-            }
-        },
-        .global_remove => {},
-    }
-}
-
-fn outputStatusListener(output_status: *zriver.OutputStatusV1, event: zriver.OutputStatusV1.Event, data: ?*c_void) void {
-    switch (event) {
-        .focused_tags => |focused_tags| std.debug.warn("Focused tags: {b:0>10}\n", .{focused_tags.tags}),
-        .view_tags => |view_tags| {
-            std.debug.warn("View tags:\n", .{});
-            for (view_tags.tags.slice(u32)) |t| std.debug.warn("{b:0>10}\n", .{t});
-        },
-    }
-}
-
-fn seatStatusListener(seat_status: *zriver.SeatStatusV1, event: zriver.SeatStatusV1.Event, data: ?*c_void) void {
-    switch (event) {
-        .focused_output => |focused_output| std.debug.warn("Output id {} focused\n", .{
-            @ptrCast(*wl.Proxy, focused_output.output orelse return).getId(),
-        }),
-        .unfocused_output => |unfocused_output| std.debug.warn("Output id {} focused\n", .{
-            @ptrCast(*wl.Proxy, unfocused_output.output orelse return).getId(),
-        }),
-        .focused_view => |focused_view| std.debug.warn("Focused view title: {}\n", .{focused_view.title}),
-    }
-}