diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index d01a0b5..9a124c7 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ resolvers ++= Seq(
 )
 
 libraryDependencies ++= {
-  val circeVersion = "0.5.2"
+  val circeVersion = "0.6.0"
   val akkaVersion = "2.4.8"
 
   Seq(
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiDecoders.scala b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiDecoders.scala
index 73dcdc7..90c7b56 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiDecoders.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiDecoders.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package org.zalando.jsonapi.json.circe
 
-import cats.data.Xor
 import io.circe._
 import org.zalando.jsonapi.json.FieldNames
 import org.zalando.jsonapi.model.JsonApiObject._
@@ -20,23 +19,23 @@ trait CirceJsonapiDecoders {
         }.toList)
   )
 
-  implicit val valueDecoder = Decoder.instance[Value](_.as[Json].map(jsonToValue))
+  implicit val valueDecoder = Decoder.instance[Value](_.as[Json].right.map(jsonToValue))
 
   implicit val attributesDecoder = Decoder.instance[Attributes](hcursor ⇒ {
-    hcursor.as[Value].flatMap {
+    hcursor.as[Value].right.flatMap {
       case JsObjectValue(value) ⇒
-        Xor.Right(value)
+        Right(value)
       case _ ⇒
-        Xor.Left(DecodingFailure("only an object can be decoded to Attributes", hcursor.history))
+        Left(DecodingFailure("only an object can be decoded to Attributes", hcursor.history))
     }
   })
 
-  implicit val attributeDecoder = Decoder.instance[Attribute](_.as[Attributes].map(_.head))
+  implicit val attributeDecoder = Decoder.instance[Attribute](_.as[Attributes].right.map(_.head))
 
   implicit val linksDecoder = Decoder.instance[Links](hcursor ⇒ {
-    hcursor.as[Value].flatMap {
+    hcursor.as[Value].right.flatMap {
       case JsObjectValue(attributes) ⇒
-        Xor.Right(attributes.map {
+        Right(attributes.map {
           case Attribute(FieldNames.`self`, StringValue(url)) ⇒ Links.Self(url)
           case Attribute(FieldNames.`about`, StringValue(url)) ⇒
             Links.About(url)
@@ -49,22 +48,23 @@ trait CirceJsonapiDecoders {
             Links.Related(url)
         })
       case _ ⇒
-        Xor.Left(DecodingFailure("only an object can be decoded to Links", hcursor.history))
+        Left(DecodingFailure("only an object can be decoded to Links", hcursor.history))
     }
   })
 
-  def jsonToData(json: Json): Xor[DecodingFailure, Data] = json match {
+  def jsonToData(json: Json): Either[DecodingFailure, Data] = json match {
     case json: Json if json.isArray ⇒
       json.as[ResourceObjects]
     case json: Json if json.isObject ⇒
       json.as[ResourceObject]
   }
 
+  implicit val dataDecoder = Decoder.instance[Data](_.as[Json].right.flatMap(jsonToData))
+
   implicit val relationshipDecoder = Decoder.instance[Relationship](hcursor ⇒ {
     for {
-      links ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`links`).as[Option[Links]]
-      // TODO: there's prolly a cleaner way here. there's a circular dependency Data -> ResourceObject(s) -> Relationship(s) -> Data that's giving circe problems
-      data ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`data`).as[Option[Json]].map(_.flatMap(jsonToData(_).toOption))
+      links ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`links`).as[Option[Links]].right
+      data ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`data`).as[Option[Data]].right
     } yield
       Relationship(
           links = links,
@@ -75,31 +75,31 @@ trait CirceJsonapiDecoders {
   implicit val relationshipsDecoder = Decoder.instance[Relationships](_.as[Map[String, Relationship]])
 
   implicit val jsonApiDecoder = Decoder.instance[JsonApi](hcursor ⇒ {
-    hcursor.as[Value].flatMap {
+    hcursor.as[Value].right.flatMap {
       case JsObjectValue(attributes) ⇒
-        Xor.Right(attributes.map {
+        Right(attributes.map {
           case Attribute(name, value) ⇒ JsonApiProperty(name, value)
         })
       case _ ⇒
-        Xor.Left(DecodingFailure("only an object can be decoded to JsonApi", hcursor.history))
+        Left(DecodingFailure("only an object can be decoded to JsonApi", hcursor.history))
     }
   })
 
   implicit val metaDecoder = Decoder.instance[Meta](hcursor ⇒ {
-    hcursor.as[Value].flatMap {
+    hcursor.as[Value].right.flatMap {
       case JsObjectValue(attributes) ⇒
-        Xor.Right(attributes.map {
+        Right(attributes.map {
           case Attribute(name, value) ⇒ name -> value
         }.toMap)
       case _ ⇒
-        Xor.Left(DecodingFailure("only an object can be decoded to Meta", hcursor.history))
+        Left(DecodingFailure("only an object can be decoded to Meta", hcursor.history))
     }
   })
 
   implicit val errorSourceDecoder = Decoder.instance[ErrorSource](hcursor ⇒ {
     for {
-      pointer ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`pointer`).as[Option[String]]
-      parameter ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`parameter`).as[Option[String]]
+      pointer ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`pointer`).as[Option[String]].right
+      parameter ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`parameter`).as[Option[String]].right
     } yield
       ErrorSource(
           pointer = pointer,
@@ -109,14 +109,14 @@ trait CirceJsonapiDecoders {
 
   implicit val errorDecoder = Decoder.instance[Error](hcursor ⇒ {
     for {
-      id ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`id`).as[Option[String]]
-      status ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`status`).as[Option[String]]
-      code ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`code`).as[Option[String]]
-      title ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`title`).as[Option[String]]
-      detail ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`detail`).as[Option[String]]
-      links ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`links`).as[Option[Links]]
-      meta ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`meta`).as[Option[Meta]]
-      source ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`source`).as[Option[ErrorSource]]
+      id ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`id`).as[Option[String]].right
+      status ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`status`).as[Option[String]].right
+      code ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`code`).as[Option[String]].right
+      title ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`title`).as[Option[String]].right
+      detail ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`detail`).as[Option[String]].right
+      links ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`links`).as[Option[Links]].right
+      meta ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`meta`).as[Option[Meta]].right
+      source ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`source`).as[Option[ErrorSource]].right
     } yield
       Error(
           id = id,
@@ -132,12 +132,12 @@ trait CirceJsonapiDecoders {
 
   implicit val resourceObjectDecoder = Decoder.instance[ResourceObject](hcursor ⇒ {
     for {
-      id ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`id`).as[Option[String]]
-      `type` ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`type`).as[String]
-      attributes ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`attributes`).as[Option[Attributes]]
-      relationships ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`relationships`).as[Option[Relationships]]
-      links ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`links`).as[Option[Links]]
-      meta ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`meta`).as[Option[Meta]]
+      id ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`id`).as[Option[String]].right
+      `type` ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`type`).as[String].right
+      attributes ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`attributes`).as[Option[Attributes]].right
+      relationships ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`relationships`).as[Option[Relationships]].right
+      links ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`links`).as[Option[Links]].right
+      meta ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`meta`).as[Option[Meta]].right
     } yield
       ResourceObject(
           id = id,
@@ -150,20 +150,18 @@ trait CirceJsonapiDecoders {
   })
 
   implicit val resourceObjectsDecoder =
-    Decoder.instance[ResourceObjects](_.as[List[ResourceObject]].map(ResourceObjects))
-
-  implicit val dataDecoder = Decoder.instance[Data](_.as[Json].flatMap(jsonToData))
+    Decoder.instance[ResourceObjects](_.as[List[ResourceObject]].right.map(ResourceObjects))
 
-  implicit val includedDecoder = Decoder.instance[Included](_.as[ResourceObjects].map(Included.apply))
+  implicit val includedDecoder = Decoder.instance[Included](_.as[ResourceObjects].right.map(Included.apply))
 
   implicit val rootObjectDecoder = Decoder.instance[RootObject](hcursor ⇒ {
     for {
-      data ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`data`).as[Option[Data]]
-      links ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`links`).as[Option[Links]]
-      errors ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`errors`).as[Option[Errors]]
-      meta ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`meta`).as[Option[Meta]]
-      included ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`included`).as[Option[Included]]
-      jsonapi ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`jsonapi`).as[Option[JsonApi]]
+      data ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`data`).as[Option[Data]].right
+      links ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`links`).as[Option[Links]].right
+      errors ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`errors`).as[Option[Errors]].right
+      meta ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`meta`).as[Option[Meta]].right
+      included ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`included`).as[Option[Included]].right
+      jsonapi ← hcursor.downField(FieldNames.`jsonapi`).as[Option[JsonApi]].right
     } yield
       RootObject(
           data = data,
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiSupport.scala b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiSupport.scala
index bf786b3..90a3436 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiSupport.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiSupport.scala
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ trait CirceJsonapiSupport extends CirceJsonapiEncoders with CirceJsonapiDecoders
   implicit val circeJsonapiUnmarshaller = Unmarshaller.delegate[String, RootObject](
       `application/vnd.api+json`,
       `application/json`
-  )(decode[RootObject](_).toOption.get)
+  )(decode[RootObject](_).right.get)
 }
 
 object CirceJsonapiSupport extends CirceJsonapiSupport
diff --git a/src/test/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiFormatSpec.scala b/src/test/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiFormatSpec.scala
index eb08071..3388a29 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiFormatSpec.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/org/zalando/jsonapi/json/circe/CirceJsonapiFormatSpec.scala
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ import org.zalando.jsonapi.model._
 
 class CirceJsonapiFormatSpec extends JsonBaseSpec[Json] with MustMatchers with CirceJsonapiEncoders with CirceJsonapiDecoders {
 
-  override protected def parseJson(jsonString: String): Json = parse(jsonString).toOption.get
-  protected def decodeJson[T](json: Json)(implicit d: io.circe.Decoder[T]): T = json.as[T].toOption.get
+  override protected def parseJson(jsonString: String): Json = parse(jsonString).right.get
+  protected def decodeJson[T](json: Json)(implicit d: io.circe.Decoder[T]): T = json.as[T].right.get
 
   "CirceJsonapiFormat" when {
     "serializing Jsonapi" must {
diff --git a/version.sbt b/version.sbt
index 5b60162..0512f16 100644
--- a/version.sbt
+++ b/version.sbt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-version in ThisBuild := "0.5.4"
+version in ThisBuild := "0.6.0"