diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 46184e6..383383e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -41,29 +41,14 @@ _PP_CXX = osuparser.cpp
 _PP = $(_PP_HXX) $(_PP_CXX)
 PP = $(addprefix $(PREPROCESSED)/, $(_PP))
 
-# the awks below will remove all includes, pragmas and blank lines from the top of the file
-# until they hit something else
-#
-# that something else could be an awk marker comment which saves part of the includes
-# from being eaten by awk - ones useful when debugging the output of these godforsaken macros
-#
-# doing that makes clang-format considerably faster (c++ std moment)
-# but also removes my own headers which makes some of the macros not evaluate
-#
-# that issue is fixed by adding a comment that'll stop the awk before my macros
-# and after all the others
+# PP_DEBUG gets rid of all the macros we don't need
+# when debugging the preprocessed output
 pp: dirs $(PP)
 
 $(PREPROCESSED)/%.hpp: $(INCLUDE)/%.hpp
-	$(eval TMP := $(shell mktemp).hpp)
-	awk '/^#include/ || /^#pragma/ || /^[[:space:]]*$$/ {if(!f)next} // {f=1;print}' $< > $(TMP)
-	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -E $(TMP) > $@
+	$(CXX) -DPP_DEBUG $(CXXFLAGS) -E $< > $@
 	clang-format -i $@
-	rm -rf $(TMP)
 
 $(PREPROCESSED)/%.cpp: $(SRC)/%.cpp
-	$(eval TMP := $(shell mktemp).cpp)
-	awk '/^#include/ || /^#pragma/ || /^[[:space:]]*$$/ {if(!f)next} // {f=1;print}' $< > $(TMP)
-	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -E $(TMP) > $@
+	$(CXX) -DPP_DEBUG $(CXXFLAGS) -E $< > $@
 	clang-format -i $@
-	rm -rf $(TMP)
diff --git a/include/config.hpp b/include/config.hpp
index 0c6b0be..18ff0b5 100644
--- a/include/config.hpp
+++ b/include/config.hpp
@@ -1,17 +1,14 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#ifndef PP_DEBUG
 #include <cinttypes>
 #include <vector>
 
 #include <SFML/Graphics/Color.hpp>
+#endif
 
 #include <util_stream_ops.hpp>
 
-// awk stop marker (check make pp)
-// <util_stream_ops.hpp> only brings in operator<< definitions
-// for sf::Color and std::vector<T>
-// doesn't change output, we only need the FOR_EACH macro
-
 #include <foreach.hpp>
 
 #define CONFIG(name, ...) \
diff --git a/include/osuparser.hpp b/include/osuparser.hpp
index 7a7be8e..6768948 100644
--- a/include/osuparser.hpp
+++ b/include/osuparser.hpp
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#ifndef PP_DEBUG
 #include <filesystem>
+#endif
 
 #include <config.hpp>
 
-// no marker here since config.hpp is only included to bring
-// the generated struct into scope
-// the output will be the same regardless
-
 namespace fs = std::filesystem;
 
 #define CONFIG(name, ...) name parse##name(fs::path configPath);
diff --git a/include/util_stream_ops.hpp b/include/util_stream_ops.hpp
index ee66b59..506645a 100644
--- a/include/util_stream_ops.hpp
+++ b/include/util_stream_ops.hpp
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 #pragma once
 
+#ifndef PP_DEBUG
 #include <concepts>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <vector>
 
 #include <SFML/Graphics/Color.hpp>
+#endif
 
 inline std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &stream, const sf::Color &color) {
     stream << "Color(" << color.r << ", " << color.g << ", " << color.b << ", " << color.a << ")";
diff --git a/src/osuparser.cpp b/src/osuparser.cpp
index 4ebce09..25a06c2 100644
--- a/src/osuparser.cpp
+++ b/src/osuparser.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 #include <osuparser.hpp>
 
+#ifndef PP_DEBUG
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <array>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <iostream>
+#endif
 
 inline std::string trimString(const std::string &str) {
     std::string ret(str);