diff --git a/vminitd/Package.resolved b/vminitd/Package.resolved
index a5c8dcdd..dbbf216e 100644
--- a/vminitd/Package.resolved
+++ b/vminitd/Package.resolved
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "originHash" : "317bd17e5e8ea1d37ffc5ec5f87172d8d348613454782e2fe0ac36ae707e87f9",
+  "originHash" : "4038f23a0edd12a9ff5bf2cae9327f6ac704134c6d503e0fd08ab254c601cb75",
   "pins" : [
     {
       "identity" : "async-http-client",
@@ -195,8 +195,8 @@
       "kind" : "remoteSourceControl",
       "location" : "https://github.com/apple/swift-system.git",
       "state" : {
-        "revision" : "61e4ca4b81b9e09e2ec863b00c340eb13497dac6",
-        "version" : "1.5.0"
+        "revision" : "395a77f0aa927f0ff73941d7ac35f2b46d47c9db",
+        "version" : "1.6.3"
       }
     }
   ],
diff --git a/vminitd/Package.swift b/vminitd/Package.swift
index c47d3f75..75dae5d1 100644
--- a/vminitd/Package.swift
+++ b/vminitd/Package.swift
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ let package = Package(
     dependencies: [
         .package(url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-argument-parser", from: "1.3.0"),
         .package(url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-log.git", from: "1.0.0"),
-        .package(url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-system.git", from: "1.4.0"),
+        .package(url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-system.git", from: "1.6.3"),
         .package(name: "containerization", path: "../"),
     ],
     targets: [
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ let package = Package(
             dependencies: [
                 .product(name: "Logging", package: "swift-log"),
                 .product(name: "ArgumentParser", package: "swift-argument-parser"),
+                .product(name: "SystemPackage", package: "swift-system"),
                 .product(name: "Containerization", package: "containerization"),
                 .product(name: "ContainerizationOS", package: "containerization"),
                 "LCShim",
diff --git a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/Console.swift b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/Console.swift
index 034955c8..fddc28e6 100644
--- a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/Console.swift
+++ b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/Console.swift
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 // limitations under the License.
 //===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
-import Foundation
+import FoundationEssentials
 import Musl
 
 class Console {
diff --git a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/ExecCommand.swift b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/ExecCommand.swift
index 701d82c6..b2f90133 100644
--- a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/ExecCommand.swift
+++ b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/ExecCommand.swift
@@ -17,10 +17,11 @@
 import ArgumentParser
 import ContainerizationOCI
 import ContainerizationOS
-import Foundation
+import FoundationEssentials
 import LCShim
 import Logging
 import Musl
+import SystemPackage
 
 struct ExecCommand: ParsableCommand {
     static let configuration = CommandConfiguration(
@@ -56,8 +57,8 @@ struct ExecCommand: ParsableCommand {
     }
 
     private func execInNamespaces(process: ContainerizationOCI.Process) throws {
-        let syncPipe = FileHandle(fileDescriptor: 3)
-        let ackPipe = FileHandle(fileDescriptor: 4)
+        let syncPipe = FileDescriptor(rawValue: 3)
+        let ackPipe = FileDescriptor(rawValue: 4)
 
         let pidFd = CZ_pidfd_open(Int32(parentPid), 0)
         guard pidFd > 0 else {
@@ -79,12 +80,14 @@ struct ExecCommand: ParsableCommand {
 
         if processID == 0 {  // child
             // Wait for the grandparent to tell us that they acked our pid.
-            guard let data = try ackPipe.read(upToCount: App.ackPid.count) else {
-                throw App.Failure(message: "read ack pipe")
+            var pidAckBuffer = [UInt8](repeating: 0, count: App.ackPid.count)
+            let pidAckBytesRead = try pidAckBuffer.withUnsafeMutableBytes { buffer in
+                try ackPipe.read(into: buffer)
             }
-            guard let pidAckStr = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) else {
-                throw App.Failure(message: "convert ack pipe data to string")
+            guard pidAckBytesRead > 0 else {
+                throw App.Failure(message: "read ack pipe")
             }
+            let pidAckStr = String(decoding: pidAckBuffer[..<pidAckBytesRead], as: UTF8.self)
 
             guard pidAckStr == App.ackPid else {
                 throw App.Failure(message: "received invalid acknowledgement string: \(pidAckStr)")
@@ -99,17 +102,19 @@ struct ExecCommand: ParsableCommand {
                 try pty.configureStdIO()
                 var masterFD = pty.master
 
-                let data = Data(bytes: &masterFD, count: MemoryLayout.size(ofValue: masterFD))
-                try syncPipe.write(contentsOf: data)
+                try withUnsafeBytes(of: &masterFD) { bytes in
+                    _ = try syncPipe.write(bytes)
+                }
 
                 // Wait for the grandparent to tell us that they acked our console.
-                guard let data = try ackPipe.read(upToCount: App.ackConsole.count) else {
-                    throw App.Failure(message: "read ack pipe")
+                var consoleAckBuffer = [UInt8](repeating: 0, count: App.ackConsole.count)
+                let consoleAckBytesRead = try consoleAckBuffer.withUnsafeMutableBytes { buffer in
+                    try ackPipe.read(into: buffer)
                 }
-
-                guard let consoleAckStr = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) else {
-                    throw App.Failure(message: "convert ack pipe data to string")
+                guard consoleAckBytesRead > 0 else {
+                    throw App.Failure(message: "read ack pipe")
                 }
+                let consoleAckStr = String(decoding: consoleAckBuffer[..<consoleAckBytesRead], as: UTF8.self)
 
                 guard consoleAckStr == App.ackConsole else {
                     throw App.Failure(message: "received invalid acknowledgement string: \(consoleAckStr)")
@@ -144,9 +149,9 @@ struct ExecCommand: ParsableCommand {
         } else {  // parent process
             // Send our child's pid to our parent before we exit.
             var childPid = processID
-            let data = Data(bytes: &childPid, count: MemoryLayout.size(ofValue: childPid))
-
-            try syncPipe.write(contentsOf: data)
+            try withUnsafeBytes(of: &childPid) { bytes in
+                _ = try syncPipe.write(bytes)
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/Mount.swift b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/Mount.swift
index 54eb886a..45a2291b 100644
--- a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/Mount.swift
+++ b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/Mount.swift
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 import ContainerizationOCI
 import ContainerizationOS
-import Foundation
+import FoundationEssentials
 import Musl
 
 struct ContainerMount {
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ struct ContainerMount {
     }
 
     func configureConsole() throws {
-        let ptmx = self.rootfs.standardizingPath.appendingPathComponent("dev/ptmx")
+        let ptmx = rootfs + "/dev/ptmx"
         guard remove(ptmx) == 0 else {
             throw App.Errno(stage: "remove(ptmx)")
         }
@@ -44,14 +44,6 @@ struct ContainerMount {
             throw App.Errno(stage: "symlink(pts/ptmx)")
         }
     }
-
-    private func mkdirAll(_ name: String, _ perm: Int16) throws {
-        try FileManager.default.createDirectory(
-            atPath: name,
-            withIntermediateDirectories: true,
-            attributes: [.posixPermissions: perm]
-        )
-    }
 }
 
 extension ContainerizationOCI.Mount {
diff --git a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/RunCommand.swift b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/RunCommand.swift
index ccd89fd2..7759a802 100644
--- a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/RunCommand.swift
+++ b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/RunCommand.swift
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@ import ArgumentParser
 import Cgroup
 import ContainerizationOCI
 import ContainerizationOS
-import Foundation
+import FoundationEssentials
 import LCShim
-import Logging
 import Musl
+import SystemPackage
 
 struct RunCommand: ParsableCommand {
     static let configuration = CommandConfiguration(
@@ -85,8 +85,8 @@ struct RunCommand: ParsableCommand {
 
     private func childSetup(
         spec: ContainerizationOCI.Spec,
-        ackPipe: FileHandle,
-        syncPipe: FileHandle,
+        ackPipe: FileDescriptor,
+        syncPipe: FileDescriptor
     ) throws {
         guard let process = spec.process else {
             throw App.Failure(message: "no process configuration found in runtime spec")
@@ -96,12 +96,14 @@ struct RunCommand: ParsableCommand {
         }
 
         // Wait for the grandparent to tell us that they acked our pid.
-        guard let data = try ackPipe.read(upToCount: App.ackPid.count) else {
-            throw App.Failure(message: "read ack pipe")
+        var pidAckBuffer = [UInt8](repeating: 0, count: App.ackPid.count)
+        let pidAckBytesRead = try pidAckBuffer.withUnsafeMutableBytes { buffer in
+            try ackPipe.read(into: buffer)
         }
-        guard let pidAckStr = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) else {
-            throw App.Failure(message: "convert ack pipe data to string")
+        guard pidAckBytesRead > 0 else {
+            throw App.Failure(message: "read ack pipe")
         }
+        let pidAckStr = String(decoding: pidAckBuffer[..<pidAckBytesRead], as: UTF8.self)
 
         guard pidAckStr == App.ackPid else {
             throw App.Failure(message: "received invalid acknowledgement string: \(pidAckStr)")
@@ -122,17 +124,19 @@ struct RunCommand: ParsableCommand {
             try pty.configureStdIO()
             var masterFD = pty.master
 
-            let data = Data(bytes: &masterFD, count: MemoryLayout.size(ofValue: masterFD))
-            try syncPipe.write(contentsOf: data)
+            try withUnsafeBytes(of: &masterFD) { bytes in
+                _ = try syncPipe.write(bytes)
+            }
 
             // Wait for the grandparent to tell us that they acked our console.
-            guard let data = try ackPipe.read(upToCount: App.ackConsole.count) else {
-                throw App.Failure(message: "read ack pipe")
+            var consoleAckBuffer = [UInt8](repeating: 0, count: App.ackConsole.count)
+            let consoleAckBytesRead = try consoleAckBuffer.withUnsafeMutableBytes { buffer in
+                try ackPipe.read(into: buffer)
             }
-
-            guard let consoleAckStr = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) else {
-                throw App.Failure(message: "convert ack pipe data to string")
+            guard consoleAckBytesRead > 0 else {
+                throw App.Failure(message: "read ack pipe")
             }
+            let consoleAckStr = String(decoding: consoleAckBuffer[..<consoleAckBytesRead], as: UTF8.self)
 
             guard consoleAckStr == App.ackConsole else {
                 throw App.Failure(message: "received invalid acknowledgement string: \(consoleAckStr)")
@@ -220,8 +224,8 @@ struct RunCommand: ParsableCommand {
     }
 
     private func execInNamespace(spec: ContainerizationOCI.Spec) throws {
-        let syncPipe = FileHandle(fileDescriptor: 3)
-        let ackPipe = FileHandle(fileDescriptor: 4)
+        let syncPipe = FileDescriptor(rawValue: 3)
+        let ackPipe = FileDescriptor(rawValue: 4)
 
         let unshareFlags = try setupNamespaces(namespaces: spec.linux?.namespaces)
 
@@ -255,8 +259,9 @@ struct RunCommand: ParsableCommand {
 
             // Send our child's pid before we exit.
             var childPid = processID
-            let data = Data(bytes: &childPid, count: MemoryLayout.size(ofValue: childPid))
-            try syncPipe.write(contentsOf: data)
+            try withUnsafeBytes(of: &childPid) { bytes in
+                _ = try syncPipe.write(bytes)
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/vmexec.swift b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/vmexec.swift
index 99abce11..8e932fa3 100644
--- a/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/vmexec.swift
+++ b/vminitd/Sources/vmexec/vmexec.swift
@@ -23,10 +23,11 @@ import ArgumentParser
 import ContainerizationError
 import ContainerizationOCI
 import ContainerizationOS
-import Foundation
+import FoundationEssentials
 import LCShim
 import Logging
 import Musl
+import SystemPackage
 
 @main
 struct App: ParsableCommand {
@@ -233,7 +234,7 @@ extension App {
     }
 
     static func writeError(_ error: Error) {
-        let errorPipe = FileHandle(fileDescriptor: 5)
+        let errorPipe = FileDescriptor(rawValue: 5)
 
         let errorMessage: String
         if let czError = error as? ContainerizationError {
@@ -242,8 +243,9 @@ extension App {
             errorMessage = String(describing: error)
         }
 
-        if let data = errorMessage.data(using: .utf8) {
-            try? errorPipe.write(contentsOf: data)
+        let bytes = Array(errorMessage.utf8)
+        _ = try? bytes.withUnsafeBytes { buffer in
+            try errorPipe.write(buffer)
         }
         try? errorPipe.close()
     }