diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d81b62a..ee9983a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@ go 1.23.0
 
 require (
 	github.com/BurntSushi/toml v1.3.2
+	github.com/adrg/xdg v0.5.3
 	github.com/creack/pty/v2 v2.0.1
 	github.com/docker/docker v27.5.0+incompatible
 	github.com/go-quicktest/qt v1.101.0
 	github.com/google/go-containerregistry v0.20.3
 	github.com/kballard/go-shellquote v0.0.0-20180428030007-95032a82bc51
 	github.com/schollz/progressbar/v3 v3.18.0
-	github.com/u-root/u-root v0.11.0
 	golang.org/x/sync v0.10.0
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.29.0
 	rsc.io/script v0.0.2-0.20231205190631-334f6c18cff3
@@ -18,15 +18,12 @@ require (
 
 require (
 	github.com/AdaLogics/go-fuzz-headers v0.0.0-20240806141605-e8a1dd7889d6 // indirect
-	github.com/adrg/xdg v0.5.3 // indirect
 	github.com/containerd/log v0.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/containerd/stargz-snapshotter/estargz v0.16.3 // indirect
 	github.com/docker/cli v27.5.0+incompatible // indirect
 	github.com/docker/distribution v2.8.3+incompatible // indirect
 	github.com/docker/docker-credential-helpers v0.8.2 // indirect
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0 // indirect
-	github.com/google/goexpect v0.0.0-20191001010744-5b6988669ffa // indirect
-	github.com/google/goterm v0.0.0-20200907032337-555d40f16ae2 // indirect
 	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.11 // indirect
 	github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 // indirect
 	github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 // indirect
@@ -44,10 +41,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.9.3 // indirect
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0 // indirect
 	github.com/vbatts/tar-split v0.11.6 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20210921155107-089bfa567519 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/term v0.28.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.29.0 // indirect
-	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20250102185135-69823020774d // indirect
-	google.golang.org/grpc v1.69.4 // indirect
 	gotest.tools/v3 v3.5.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a95ff02..011e19e 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -26,16 +26,10 @@ github.com/docker/docker-credential-helpers v0.8.2 h1:bX3YxiGzFP5sOXWc3bTPEXdEaZ
 github.com/docker/docker-credential-helpers v0.8.2/go.mod h1:P3ci7E3lwkZg6XiHdRKft1KckHiO9a2rNtyFbZ/ry9M=
 github.com/go-quicktest/qt v1.101.0 h1:O1K29Txy5P2OK0dGo59b7b0LR6wKfIhttaAhHUyn7eI=
 github.com/go-quicktest/qt v1.101.0/go.mod h1:14Bz/f7NwaXPtdYEgzsx46kqSxVwTbzVZsDC26tQJow=
-github.com/golang/glog v1.2.2 h1:1+mZ9upx1Dh6FmUTFR1naJ77miKiXgALjWOZ3NVFPmY=
-github.com/golang/glog v1.2.2/go.mod h1:6AhwSGph0fcJtXVM/PEHPqZlFeoLxhs7/t5UDAwmO+w=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0 h1:ofyhxvXcZhMsU5ulbFiLKl/XBFqE1GSq7atu8tAmTRI=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0/go.mod h1:17dUlkBOakJ0+DkrSSNjCkIjxS6bF9zb3elmeNGIjoY=
 github.com/google/go-containerregistry v0.20.3 h1:oNx7IdTI936V8CQRveCjaxOiegWwvM7kqkbXTpyiovI=
 github.com/google/go-containerregistry v0.20.3/go.mod h1:w00pIgBRDVUDFM6bq+Qx8lwNWK+cxgCuX1vd3PIBDNI=
-github.com/google/goexpect v0.0.0-20191001010744-5b6988669ffa h1:PMkmJA8ju9DjqAJjIzrBdrmhuuPsoNnNLYgKQBopWL0=
-github.com/google/goexpect v0.0.0-20191001010744-5b6988669ffa/go.mod h1:qtE5aAEkt0vOSA84DBh8aJsz6riL8ONfqfULY7lBjqc=
-github.com/google/goterm v0.0.0-20200907032337-555d40f16ae2 h1:CVuJwN34x4xM2aT4sIKhmeib40NeBPhRihNjQmpJsA4=
-github.com/google/goterm v0.0.0-20200907032337-555d40f16ae2/go.mod h1:nOFQdrUlIlx6M6ODdSpBj1NVA+VgLC6kmw60mkw34H4=
 github.com/kballard/go-shellquote v0.0.0-20180428030007-95032a82bc51 h1:Z9n2FFNUXsshfwJMBgNA0RU6/i7WVaAegv3PtuIHPMs=
 github.com/kballard/go-shellquote v0.0.0-20180428030007-95032a82bc51/go.mod h1:CzGEWj7cYgsdH8dAjBGEr58BoE7ScuLd+fwFZ44+/x8=
 github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.11 h1:In6xLpyWOi1+C7tXUUWv2ot1QvBjxevKAaI6IXrJmUc=
@@ -80,12 +74,8 @@ github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.7.0/go.mod h1:6Fq8oRcR53rry900zMqJjRRixrwX3KX962/h/Wwjteg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0 h1:Xv5erBjTwe/5IxqUQTdXv5kgmIvbHo3QQyRwhJsOfJA=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0/go.mod h1:r2ic/lqez/lEtzL7wO/rwa5dbSLXVDPFyf8C91i36aY=
-github.com/u-root/u-root v0.11.0 h1:6gCZLOeRyevw7gbTwMj3fKxnr9+yHFlgF3N7udUVNO8=
-github.com/u-root/u-root v0.11.0/go.mod h1:DBkDtiZyONk9hzVEdB/PWI9B4TxDkElWlVTHseglrZY=
 github.com/vbatts/tar-split v0.11.6 h1:4SjTW5+PU11n6fZenf2IPoV8/tz3AaYHMWjf23envGs=
 github.com/vbatts/tar-split v0.11.6/go.mod h1:dqKNtesIOr2j2Qv3W/cHjnvk9I8+G7oAkFDFN6TCBEI=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20210921155107-089bfa567519 h1:7I4JAnoQBe7ZtJcBaYHi5UtiO8tQHbUSXxL+pnGRANg=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20210921155107-089bfa567519/go.mod h1:GvvjBRRGRdwPK5ydBHafDWAxML/pGHZbMvKqRZ5+Abc=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.10.0 h1:3NQrjDixjgGwUOCaF8w2+VYHv0Ve/vGYSbdkTa98gmQ=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.10.0/go.mod h1:Czt+wKu1gCyEFDUtn0jG5QVvpJ6rzVqr5aXyt9drQfk=
 golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220715151400-c0bba94af5f8/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
@@ -95,12 +85,6 @@ golang.org/x/term v0.28.0 h1:/Ts8HFuMR2E6IP/jlo7QVLZHggjKQbhu/7H0LJFr3Gg=
 golang.org/x/term v0.28.0/go.mod h1:Sw/lC2IAUZ92udQNf3WodGtn4k/XoLyZoh8v/8uiwek=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.29.0 h1:Xx0h3TtM9rzQpQuR4dKLrdglAmCEN5Oi+P74JdhdzXE=
 golang.org/x/tools v0.29.0/go.mod h1:KMQVMRsVxU6nHCFXrBPhDB8XncLNLM0lIy/F14RP588=
-google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20250102185135-69823020774d h1:xJJRGY7TJcvIlpSrN3K6LAWgNFUILlO+OMAqtg9aqnw=
-google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20250102185135-69823020774d/go.mod h1:3ENsm/5D1mzDyhpzeRi1NR784I0BcofWBoSc5QqqMK4=
-google.golang.org/grpc v1.69.4 h1:MF5TftSMkd8GLw/m0KM6V8CMOCY6NZ1NQDPGFgbTt4A=
-google.golang.org/grpc v1.69.4/go.mod h1:vyjdE6jLBI76dgpDojsFGNaHlxdjXN9ghpnd2o7JGZ4=
-google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.3 h1:82DV7MYdb8anAVi3qge1wSnMDrnKK7ebr+I0hHRN1BU=
-google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.3/go.mod h1:9fA7Ob0pmnwhb644+1+CVWFRbNajQ6iRojtC/QF5bRE=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.0-20200313102051-9f266ea9e77c/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
diff --git a/qemu.go b/qemu.go
index 2876eac..32f4325 100644
--- a/qemu.go
+++ b/qemu.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/u-root/u-root/pkg/qemu"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 )
@@ -128,16 +127,17 @@ func (cmd *command) Start(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 	// subprocesses with this port as stdin, stdout and stderr.
 	virtioPorts.Chardevs[chardev("stdio")] = stdioPortName
 
-	devices := []qemu.Device{
-		qemu.ArbitraryArgs{
+	devices := []device{
+		arbitraryArgs{
 			"-nodefaults",
+			"-nographic",
 			"-display", "none",
 			"-cpu", "max",
 			"-chardev", "stdio,id=stdio",
 			"-m", cmd.Memory,
 			"-smp", cmd.SMP,
 		},
-		qemu.VirtioRandom{},
+		virtioRandom{},
 		readOnlyRootfs{},
 		exitOnPanic{},
 		disablePS2Probing{},
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func (cmd *command) Start(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 	}
 
 	if !disableKVM {
-		devices = append(devices, qemu.ArbitraryArgs{"-enable-kvm"})
+		devices = append(devices, arbitraryArgs{"-enable-kvm"})
 	} else if cmd.Stderr != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(cmd.Stderr, "Warning: KVM disabled, performance will be limited.")
 	}
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ func (cmd *command) Start(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 	case "arm64":
 		binary = "qemu-system-aarch64"
 		devices = append(devices,
-			qemu.ArbitraryArgs{"-machine", "virt,gic-version=max"},
+			arbitraryArgs{"-machine", "virt,gic-version=max"},
 			earlycon{},
 		)
 
@@ -275,22 +275,6 @@ func (cmd *command) Start(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 		[]string{stdioPortName, controlPortName},
 	})
 
-	qemuPath, err := exec.LookPath(binary)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	qemuOpts := qemu.Options{
-		QEMUPath: qemuPath,
-		Kernel:   cmd.Kernel,
-		Devices:  devices,
-	}
-
-	qemuArgs, err := qemuOpts.Cmdline()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	stdinIsDevZero := false
 	if f, ok := cmd.Stdin.(*os.File); ok {
 		stdinIsDevZero, err = fileIsDevZero(f)
@@ -314,7 +298,7 @@ func (cmd *command) Start(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 		cmd.fakeStdin = fakeStdinHost
 	}
 
-	proc := commandWithGracefulTermination(ctx, qemuArgs[0], qemuArgs[1:]...)
+	proc := commandWithGracefulTermination(ctx, binary, qemuCmdline(cmd.Kernel, devices)...)
 	proc.Stdin = stdin
 	proc.Stdout = cmd.Stdout
 	proc.Stderr = cmd.Stderr
@@ -421,6 +405,32 @@ func (gge *genericGuestError) Error() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("guest: %s", gge.Message)
 }
 
+type device interface {
+	Cmdline() []string
+	KArgs() []string
+}
+
+func qemuCmdline(kernel string, devices []device) []string {
+	var args []string
+
+	args = append(args,
+		"-nographic",
+		"-kernel", kernel,
+	)
+
+	var kargs []string
+	for _, dev := range devices {
+		args = append(args, dev.Cmdline()...)
+		kargs = append(kargs, dev.KArgs()...)
+	}
+
+	if len(kargs) > 0 {
+		args = append(args, "-append", strings.Join(kargs, " "))
+	}
+
+	return args
+}
+
 type initWithArgs struct {
 	path string
 	args []string
@@ -709,3 +719,26 @@ func (p9sd *p9SharedDirectory) Cmdline() []string {
 func (*p9SharedDirectory) KArgs() []string {
 	return nil
 }
+
+// virtioRandom and arbitraryArgs were copied from u-root, available under BSD-3-Clause.
+// Copyright (c) 2012-2019, u-root Authors
+
+// virtioRandom is a Device that exposes a PCI random number generator to the
+// QEMU VM.
+type virtioRandom struct{}
+
+func (virtioRandom) Cmdline() []string {
+	return []string{"-device", "virtio-rng-pci"}
+}
+
+func (virtioRandom) KArgs() []string { return nil }
+
+// arbitraryArgs is a Device that allows users to add arbitrary arguments to
+// the QEMU command line.
+type arbitraryArgs []string
+
+func (aa arbitraryArgs) Cmdline() []string {
+	return aa
+}
+
+func (arbitraryArgs) KArgs() []string { return nil }