diff --git a/src/directory/mod.rs b/src/directory/mod.rs
index c4627b88b..e4e443760 100644
--- a/src/directory/mod.rs
+++ b/src/directory/mod.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ mod managed_directory;
 mod ram_directory;
 mod read_only_source;
 mod shared_vec_slice;
+mod static_dictionnary;
 
 /// Errors specific to the directory module.
 pub mod error;
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ use std::io::{BufWriter, Seek, Write};
 pub use self::directory::{Directory, DirectoryClone};
 pub use self::ram_directory::RAMDirectory;
 pub use self::read_only_source::ReadOnlySource;
+pub use self::static_dictionnary::StaticDirectory;
 
 #[cfg(feature = "mmap")]
 pub use self::mmap_directory::MmapDirectory;
diff --git a/src/directory/read_only_source.rs b/src/directory/read_only_source.rs
index 6ed2049e5..090b578ac 100644
--- a/src/directory/read_only_source.rs
+++ b/src/directory/read_only_source.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ use fst::raw::MmapReadOnly;
 use stable_deref_trait::{CloneStableDeref, StableDeref};
 use std::ops::Deref;
 
+
+const EMPTY_SLICE: [u8; 0] = [];
+
 /// Read object that represents files in tantivy.
 ///
 /// These read objects are only in charge to deliver
@@ -17,6 +20,8 @@ pub enum ReadOnlySource {
     Mmap(MmapReadOnly),
     /// Wrapping a `Vec<u8>`
     Anonymous(SharedVecSlice),
+    /// Wrapping a static slice
+    Static(&'static [u8])
 }
 
 unsafe impl StableDeref for ReadOnlySource {}
@@ -33,7 +38,7 @@ impl Deref for ReadOnlySource {
 impl ReadOnlySource {
     /// Creates an empty ReadOnlySource
     pub fn empty() -> ReadOnlySource {
-        ReadOnlySource::Anonymous(SharedVecSlice::empty())
+        ReadOnlySource::Static(&EMPTY_SLICE)
     }
 
     /// Returns the data underlying the ReadOnlySource object.
@@ -42,6 +47,7 @@ impl ReadOnlySource {
             #[cfg(feature = "mmap")]
             ReadOnlySource::Mmap(ref mmap_read_only) => mmap_read_only.as_slice(),
             ReadOnlySource::Anonymous(ref shared_vec) => shared_vec.as_slice(),
+            ReadOnlySource::Static(data) => data,
         }
     }
 
@@ -79,6 +85,9 @@ impl ReadOnlySource {
             ReadOnlySource::Anonymous(ref shared_vec) => {
                 ReadOnlySource::Anonymous(shared_vec.slice(from_offset, to_offset))
             }
+            ReadOnlySource::Static(data) => {
+                ReadOnlySource::Static(&data[from_offset..to_offset])
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -118,3 +127,9 @@ impl From<Vec<u8>> for ReadOnlySource {
         ReadOnlySource::Anonymous(shared_data)
     }
 }
+
+impl From<&'static [u8]> for ReadOnlySource {
+    fn from(data: &'static [u8]) -> ReadOnlySource {
+        ReadOnlySource::Static(data)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/termdict/termdict.rs b/src/termdict/termdict.rs
index 0f8a28231..34976411d 100644
--- a/src/termdict/termdict.rs
+++ b/src/termdict/termdict.rs
@@ -96,6 +96,9 @@ fn open_fst_index(source: ReadOnlySource) -> fst::Map {
         ReadOnlySource::Mmap(mmap_readonly) => {
             Fst::from_mmap(mmap_readonly).expect("FST data is corrupted")
         }
+        ReadOnlySource::Static(data) => {
+            Fst::from_static_slice(data).expect("FST data is corrupted")
+        }
     };
     fst::Map::from(fst)
 }