diff --git a/release/build_release.sh b/release/build_release.sh
index 48a19037ff..f16bc14170 100755
--- a/release/build_release.sh
+++ b/release/build_release.sh
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ find . -name 'moc_*' -delete
 find . -name '__pycache__' -delete
 rm -rf panda/board panda/certs panda/crypto
 rm -rf .sconsign.dblite Jenkinsfile release/
-rm models/supercombo.dlc
+rm selfdrive/modeld/models/supercombo.dlc
 
 # Move back signed panda fw
 mkdir -p panda/board/obj
diff --git a/release/files_common b/release/files_common
index 6c058e83b5..398ce8f941 100644
--- a/release/files_common
+++ b/release/files_common
@@ -56,9 +56,6 @@ common/transformations/transformations.pyx
 
 common/api/__init__.py
 
-models/supercombo.dlc
-models/dmonitoring_model_q.dlc
-
 release/*
 
 tools/lib/*
@@ -340,6 +337,8 @@ selfdrive/modeld/models/driving.cc
 selfdrive/modeld/models/driving.h
 selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring.cc
 selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring.h
+selfdrive/modeld/models/supercombo.dlc
+selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring_model_q.dlc
 
 selfdrive/modeld/transforms/loadyuv.cc
 selfdrive/modeld/transforms/loadyuv.h
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/SConscript b/selfdrive/modeld/SConscript
index c6855e8c38..859488356e 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/SConscript
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/SConscript
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ common_model = lenv.Object(common_src)
 
 # build thneed model
 if use_thneed and arch == "larch64":
-  fn = File("#models/supercombo").abspath
+  fn = File("models/supercombo").abspath
   compiler = lenv.Program('thneed/compile', ["thneed/compile.cc"]+common_model, LIBS=libs)
   cmd = f"cd {Dir('.').abspath} && {compiler[0].abspath} {fn}.dlc {fn}_badweights.thneed --binary"
 
diff --git a/models/README.md b/selfdrive/modeld/models/README.md
similarity index 100%
rename from models/README.md
rename to selfdrive/modeld/models/README.md
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring.cc b/selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring.cc
index 40f4220c0f..63c06b1550 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring.cc
@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@ void dmonitoring_init(DMonitoringModelState* s) {
   init_yuv_buf(s->resized_buf, MODEL_WIDTH, MODEL_HEIGHT);
 
 #ifdef USE_ONNX_MODEL
-  s->m = new ONNXModel("../../models/dmonitoring_model.onnx", &s->output[0], OUTPUT_SIZE, USE_DSP_RUNTIME);
+  s->m = new ONNXModel("models/dmonitoring_model.onnx", &s->output[0], OUTPUT_SIZE, USE_DSP_RUNTIME);
 #else
-  s->m = new SNPEModel("../../models/dmonitoring_model_q.dlc", &s->output[0], OUTPUT_SIZE, USE_DSP_RUNTIME);
+  s->m = new SNPEModel("models/dmonitoring_model_q.dlc", &s->output[0], OUTPUT_SIZE, USE_DSP_RUNTIME);
 #endif
 
   s->m->addCalib(s->calib, CALIB_LEN);
diff --git a/models/dmonitoring_model.current b/selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring_model.current
similarity index 100%
rename from models/dmonitoring_model.current
rename to selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring_model.current
diff --git a/models/dmonitoring_model.onnx b/selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring_model.onnx
similarity index 100%
rename from models/dmonitoring_model.onnx
rename to selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring_model.onnx
diff --git a/models/dmonitoring_model_q.dlc b/selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring_model_q.dlc
similarity index 100%
rename from models/dmonitoring_model_q.dlc
rename to selfdrive/modeld/models/dmonitoring_model_q.dlc
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/models/driving.cc b/selfdrive/modeld/models/driving.cc
index e14411df78..e0421e8cca 100644
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/models/driving.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/models/driving.cc
@@ -32,11 +32,11 @@ void model_init(ModelState* s, cl_device_id device_id, cl_context context) {
   s->wide_frame = new ModelFrame(device_id, context);
 
 #ifdef USE_THNEED
-  s->m = std::make_unique<ThneedModel>("../../models/supercombo.thneed",
+  s->m = std::make_unique<ThneedModel>("models/supercombo.thneed",
 #elif USE_ONNX_MODEL
-  s->m = std::make_unique<ONNXModel>("../../models/supercombo.onnx",
+  s->m = std::make_unique<ONNXModel>("models/supercombo.onnx",
 #else
-  s->m = std::make_unique<SNPEModel>("../../models/supercombo.dlc",
+  s->m = std::make_unique<SNPEModel>("models/supercombo.dlc",
 #endif
    &s->output[0], NET_OUTPUT_SIZE, USE_GPU_RUNTIME, true);
 
diff --git a/models/supercombo.dlc b/selfdrive/modeld/models/supercombo.dlc
similarity index 100%
rename from models/supercombo.dlc
rename to selfdrive/modeld/models/supercombo.dlc
diff --git a/models/supercombo.onnx b/selfdrive/modeld/models/supercombo.onnx
similarity index 100%
rename from models/supercombo.onnx
rename to selfdrive/modeld/models/supercombo.onnx
diff --git a/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/weights_fixup.py b/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/weights_fixup.py
index 47875a9ee0..539b1b5d32 100755
--- a/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/weights_fixup.py
+++ b/selfdrive/modeld/thneed/weights_fixup.py
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ def weights_fixup(target, source_thneed, dlc):
   save_thneed(jdat, target)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-  weights_fixup(os.path.join(BASEDIR, "models/supercombo_fixed.thneed"),
-                os.path.join(BASEDIR, "models/supercombo.thneed"),
-                os.path.join(BASEDIR, "models/supercombo.dlc"))
+  model_dir = os.path.join(BASEDIR, "selfdrive/modeld/models/")
+  weights_fixup(os.path.join(model_dir, "supercombo_fixed.thneed"),
+                os.path.join(model_dir, "supercombo.thneed"),
+                os.path.join(model_dir, "supercombo.dlc"))
diff --git a/tools/sim/Dockerfile.sim b/tools/sim/Dockerfile.sim
index 921e546d0c..27cf25550f 100644
--- a/tools/sim/Dockerfile.sim
+++ b/tools/sim/Dockerfile.sim
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ COPY ./pyextra $HOME/openpilot/pyextra
 COPY ./site_scons $HOME/openpilot/site_scons
 COPY ./rednose $HOME/openpilot/rednose
 COPY ./common $HOME/openpilot/common
-COPY ./models $HOME/openpilot/models
 COPY ./opendbc $HOME/openpilot/opendbc
 COPY ./cereal $HOME/openpilot/cereal
 COPY ./panda $HOME/openpilot/panda