diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index d61e577c8c..036628ec42 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -781,7 +781,6 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 
 EXTRA_DIST += \
 	src/libnm-glib-aux/tests/meson.build \
-	shared/README.md \
 	$(NULL)
 
 check_programs += src/libnm-glib-aux/tests/test-shared-general
@@ -5500,8 +5499,6 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 	\
 	po/meson.build \
 	\
-	shared/meson.build \
-	\
 	src/meson.build \
 	\
 	src/libnm-core-public/nm-version-macros.h.in \
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index c6aaa20ad3..856919fdd5 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ project(
   'NetworkManager', 'c',
 # NOTE: When incrementing version also:
 #  - add corresponding NM_VERSION_x_y_z macros in
-#    "shared/nm-version-macros.h.in"
+#    "src/libnm-core-public/nm-version-macros.h.in"
 #  - update number in configure.ac
   version: '1.31.1',
   license: 'GPL2+',
@@ -919,7 +919,6 @@ fi
 content_files = []
 
 subdir('introspection')
-subdir('shared')
 subdir('src')
 subdir('dispatcher')
 subdir('clients')
diff --git a/shared/README.md b/shared/README.md
deleted file mode 100644
index ed950fce39..0000000000
--- a/shared/README.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,108 +0,0 @@
-The "shared/" Directory
-=======================
-
-For NetworkManager we place helper/utility code under "shared/"
-in static libraries. The idea is to avoid code duplication but also
-provide high quality helper functions that simplify the higher layers.
-In NetworkManager there are complicated parts, for example "src/nm-manager.c"
-is huge. On the other hand, this helper code should be simple and easy
-to understand, so that we can build more complex code on top of it.
-
-As we statically link them into our binaries, they are all inherently
-internal API, that means they cannot be part of libnm's (libnm-core's) public API.
-It also means that their API/ABI is not stable.
-
-We don't care these libraries to be minimal and contain only symbols that are
-used by all users. Instead, we expect the linker to throw away unused symbols.
-We achieve this by having a symbol versioning file to hide internal symbols
-(which gives the linker a possibility to remove them if they are unused) and
-compiling with LTO or `"-Wl,--gc-sections"`. Let the tool solve this and not
-manual organization.
-
-Hence these libraries (and their content) are structured this way to satisfy
-the following questions:
-
-1) which dependencies (libraries) do they have? That determines which
-   other libraries can use it. For example:
-
-   - "shared/nm-std-aux" and "shared/nm-glib-aux" both provide general
-     purpose helpers, the difference is that the former has no dependency
-     on glib2 library. Both these libraries are a basic dependency for
-     many other parts of the code.
-
-   - "shared/nm-udev-aux" has a dependency on libudev, it thus cannot
-     be in "shared/nm-glib-aux".
-
-   - client code also has a glib2 dependency. That means it can link with
-     "shared/nm-std-aux" and "shared/nm-glib-aux", but must not link
-     with "shared/nm-udev-aux" (as it has no direct udev dependenct --
-     although clients get it indirectly because libnm already requires
-     it).
-
-2) what is their overall purpose? As said, we rely on the linker to
-   prune unused symbols. But in a few cases we avoid to merge different
-   code in the same library. For example:
-
-   - "shared/nm-glib-aux" and "shared/nm-base" both only have a
-     glib2 dependency. Hence, they could be merged. However we
-     don't do that because "shared/nm-base" is more about NetworkManager
-     specific code, while "shared/nm-glib-aux" is about general
-     purpose helpers.
-
-3) some of these libraries are forked from an upstream. They are kept
-   separate so that we can re-import future upstream versions.
-
-Detail
-======
-
-- `shared/c-list`
-- `shared/c-rbtree`
-- `shared/c-siphash`
-- `shared/c-stdoux`
-- `shared/n-acd`
-- `shared/n-dhcp4`
-
-   These are forked from upstream and imported with git-subtree. They
-   in general only have a libc dependency (or dependencies between each
-   other).
-
-- `shared/nm-std-aux`
-
-   This contains helper code with only a libc dependency.
-   Almost all C code depends on this library.
-
-- `shared/nm-glib-aux`
-
-   Like "shared/nm-std-aux" but also has a glib2 dependency.
-   Almost all glib2 code depends on this library.
-
-- `shared/nm-udev/aux`
-
-   Like "shared/nm-glib-aux" but also has a libudev dependency. It
-   has code related to libudev.
-
-- `shared/systemd`
-
-   These are forked from upstream systemd and imported with a script.
-   Under "shared/systemd/src" we try to keep the sources as close to
-   the original as possible. There is also some adapter code to make
-   it useable for us. It has a dependency on "shared/nm-glib-aux"
-   and will need a logging implementation for "shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-logging-fwd.h".
-
-- `shared/nm-base`
-
-   Depends on "shared/nm-glib-aux" and glib2 but it provides helper code
-   that more about NetworkManager specifc things.
-
-- `shared/nm-log-core`
-
-   This is the logging implementation as used by NetworkManager core ("src/").
-   It is also a dependency for "shared/nm-platform".
-
-- `shared/nm-platform`
-
-   Platform implementation. It depends on "shared/nm-log-core", "shared/nm-base"
-   and "shared/nm-glib-aux".
-
-- Other than that, there are still a few unorganized files/directories here.
-  These should be cleaned up.
diff --git a/shared/meson.build b/shared/meson.build
deleted file mode 100644
index d6a9d6a9f7..0000000000
--- a/shared/meson.build
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
-
-glib_nm_default_dep = declare_dependency(
-  include_directories: [
-    top_inc,
-  ],
-  dependencies: [
-    glib_dep,
-  ],
-)
diff --git a/src/core/dhcp/meson.build b/src/core/dhcp/meson.build
index 1788f864dc..ddaa32fb0e 100644
--- a/src/core/dhcp/meson.build
+++ b/src/core/dhcp/meson.build
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ executable(
     src_inc,
     top_inc,
   ],
-  dependencies: glib_nm_default_dep,
+  dependencies: glib_dep,
   link_args: ldflags_linker_script_binary,
   link_depends: linker_script_binary,
   install: true,
diff --git a/src/core/systemd/meson.build b/src/core/systemd/meson.build
index 4e51afe0e1..ec4b935de7 100644
--- a/src/core/systemd/meson.build
+++ b/src/core/systemd/meson.build
@@ -38,13 +38,14 @@ libnm_systemd_core = static_library(
   ),
   include_directories: [
     incs,
+    top_inc,
     src_inc,
     src_core_inc,
   ],
   dependencies: [
-    glib_nm_default_dep,
     libnm_core_impl_dep,
     libnm_systemd_shared_dep,
+    glib_dep,
   ],
   link_with: libc_siphash,
 )
diff --git a/src/libnm-glib-aux/meson.build b/src/libnm-glib-aux/meson.build
index 5cf0e69fd1..e9c8544c38 100644
--- a/src/libnm-glib-aux/meson.build
+++ b/src/libnm-glib-aux/meson.build
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ libnm_glib_aux = static_library(
     src_inc,
     top_inc,
   ],
-  dependencies: glib_nm_default_dep,
+  dependencies: glib_dep,
   link_with: [
     libc_siphash,
     libnm_std_aux,
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ libnm_glib_aux_dep = declare_dependency(
     top_inc,
   ],
   dependencies: [
-    glib_nm_default_dep,
+    glib_dep,
   ],
 )
 
diff --git a/src/libnm-log-core/meson.build b/src/libnm-log-core/meson.build
index a8e63ebb78..3eb9145703 100644
--- a/src/libnm-log-core/meson.build
+++ b/src/libnm-log-core/meson.build
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ libnm_log_core = static_library(
     top_inc,
   ],
   dependencies: [
-    glib_nm_default_dep,
     libsystemd_dep,
+    glib_dep,
   ],
 )
 
diff --git a/src/libnm-log-null/meson.build b/src/libnm-log-null/meson.build
index 154af92490..cd35304873 100644
--- a/src/libnm-log-null/meson.build
+++ b/src/libnm-log-null/meson.build
@@ -7,5 +7,5 @@ libnm_log_null = static_library(
     src_inc,
     top_inc,
   ],
-  dependencies: glib_nm_default_dep,
+  dependencies: glib_dep,
 )
diff --git a/src/libnm-platform/meson.build b/src/libnm-platform/meson.build
index 462b505466..3300e8f674 100644
--- a/src/libnm-platform/meson.build
+++ b/src/libnm-platform/meson.build
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ libnm_platform = static_library(
   'nm-platform',
   include_directories: [
     src_inc,
+    top_inc,
   ],
   sources: [
     'nm-netlink.c',
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@ libnm_platform = static_library(
     'nmp-netns.c',
   ],
   dependencies: [
-    glib_nm_default_dep,
+    glib_dep,
   ],
 )
 
diff --git a/src/libnm-systemd-shared/meson.build b/src/libnm-systemd-shared/meson.build
index cb4c49b7a5..68512c62c1 100644
--- a/src/libnm-systemd-shared/meson.build
+++ b/src/libnm-systemd-shared/meson.build
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ libnm_systemd_shared = static_library(
     top_inc,
     src_inc,
   ],
-  dependencies: glib_nm_default_dep,
+  dependencies: glib_dep,
 )
 
 libnm_systemd_shared_dep = declare_dependency(
diff --git a/src/libnm-udev-aux/meson.build b/src/libnm-udev-aux/meson.build
index f31f06f09b..f0e7a7fa45 100644
--- a/src/libnm-udev-aux/meson.build
+++ b/src/libnm-udev-aux/meson.build
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ libnm_udev_aux = static_library(
     top_inc,
   ],
   dependencies: [
-    glib_nm_default_dep,
+    glib_dep,
     libudev_dep,
   ],
 )