diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index e7f4772..0f1b13b 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -402,9 +402,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cap-std-ext"
-version = "5.1.1"
+version = "5.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "56f9d7cf114dea582f663f03f4c563d0fc5ca2c8fa4c496eb538d8f01981ea51"
+checksum = "6c6c5ac70c4465b47c3a322330f87c2df31e42ac527497d94dc1f1d1cb8989f9"
 dependencies = [
  "cap-primitives",
  "cap-tempfile",
@@ -1479,11 +1479,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
  "dirs",
  "itest",
- "libc",
  "linkme",
  "rand",
  "regex",
- "rustix",
  "scopeguard",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index de28b15..8519c02 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ rand = "0.9"
 tracing = "0.1"
 tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3", features = ["fmt", "env-filter"] }
 tracing-error = { version = "0.2.0" }
-cap-std-ext = "5.1"
+cap-std-ext = "5.1.2"
 xshell = "0.2.7"
 
 [workspace.lints.rust]
diff --git a/crates/bcvk-qemu/src/qemu.rs b/crates/bcvk-qemu/src/qemu.rs
index 5c88e07..634a991 100644
--- a/crates/bcvk-qemu/src/qemu.rs
+++ b/crates/bcvk-qemu/src/qemu.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use camino::{Utf8Path, Utf8PathBuf};
-use cap_std_ext::cmdext::CapStdExtCommandExt;
+use cap_std_ext::cmdext::{CapStdExtCommandExt, CmdFds};
 use color_eyre::eyre::{eyre, Context};
 use color_eyre::Result;
 use libc::{VMADDR_CID_ANY, VMADDR_PORT_ANY};
@@ -571,12 +571,13 @@ fn spawn(
         cmd.arg("-no-reboot");
     }
 
+    let mut cmd_fds = CmdFds::new();
     for (idx, fd) in config.fdset.iter().enumerate() {
         let fd_id = 100 + idx as u32; // Start at 100 to avoid conflicts
         let set_id = idx + 1; // fdset starts at 1
 
         // Pass the write FD to QEMU
-        cmd.take_fd_n(Arc::clone(fd), fd_id as i32);
+        cmd_fds.take_fd_n(Arc::clone(fd), fd_id as i32);
 
         cmd.args(["-add-fd", &format!("fd={},set={}", fd_id, set_id)]);
     }
@@ -736,7 +737,7 @@ fn spawn(
     // Add AF_VSOCK device if enabled
     if let Some((vhostfd, guest_cid)) = vsock {
         debug!("Adding AF_VSOCK device with guest CID: {}", guest_cid);
-        cmd.take_fd_n(Arc::new(vhostfd), 42);
+        cmd_fds.take_fd_n(Arc::new(vhostfd), 42);
         cmd.args([
             "-device",
             &format!("vhost-vsock-pci,guest-cid={},vhostfd=42", guest_cid),
@@ -773,6 +774,8 @@ fn spawn(
         }
     }
 
+    cmd.take_fds(cmd_fds);
+
     tracing::debug!("{cmd:?}");
 
     cmd.spawn().context("Failed to spawn QEMU")
diff --git a/crates/integration-tests/Cargo.toml b/crates/integration-tests/Cargo.toml
index 05a9fbd..275f726 100644
--- a/crates/integration-tests/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/integration-tests/Cargo.toml
@@ -38,8 +38,6 @@ regex = "1"
 rand = { workspace = true }
 scopeguard = "1"
 cap-std-ext = { workspace = true }
-libc = "0.2"
-rustix = { version = "1", features = ["process"] }
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/integration-tests/src/tests/varlink.rs b/crates/integration-tests/src/tests/varlink.rs
index f28757c..d113f5d 100644
--- a/crates/integration-tests/src/tests/varlink.rs
+++ b/crates/integration-tests/src/tests/varlink.rs
@@ -11,11 +11,10 @@
 //! If something is not working, use assert/unwrap to fail hard.
 
 use std::os::unix::net::UnixStream;
-use std::os::unix::process::CommandExt;
 use std::process::Command;
 use std::sync::{Arc, OnceLock};
 
-use cap_std_ext::cmdext::CapStdExtCommandExt;
+use cap_std_ext::cmdext::{CapStdExtCommandExt, CmdFds, SystemdFdName};
 use itest::TestResult;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 
@@ -190,13 +189,11 @@ struct ActivatedBcvk {
 
 /// Spawn bcvk with socket activation and return a zlink connection.
 ///
-/// Creates a Unix socketpair and spawns bcvk directly with socket-activation
-/// env vars (`LISTEN_FDS`, `LISTEN_PID`, `LISTEN_FDNAMES`) set via
-/// `libc::setenv` in a `pre_exec` hook. We avoid `Command::env()` because
-/// Rust's std overwrites the global `environ` pointer *after* `pre_exec`
-/// callbacks run, which would discard our `LISTEN_PID` value (which must
-/// equal `getpid()` for libsystemd's `receive_descriptors` to accept it).
-/// See `library/std/src/sys/process/unix/unix.rs` in rust-lang/rust.
+/// Creates a Unix socketpair and spawns bcvk with socket-activation
+/// fd passing using `CmdFds::new_systemd_fds()`. This atomically places
+/// the socket at fd 3 and sets `LISTEN_PID`, `LISTEN_FDS`, and
+/// `LISTEN_FDNAMES` in the child process -- replacing the previous manual
+/// `pre_exec` + `libc::setenv` approach.
 ///
 /// The child process is bound to the calling thread via
 /// `lifecycle_bind_to_parent_thread`, so it is automatically killed when the
@@ -207,21 +204,10 @@ fn activated_connection() -> anyhow::Result<ActivatedBcvk> {
     let theirs_fd: Arc<std::os::fd::OwnedFd> = Arc::new(theirs.into());
 
     let mut cmd = Command::new(&bck);
-    // Do NOT use cmd.env() here -- it causes Rust's Command to build an
-    // envp array that replaces environ after our pre_exec setenv calls.
-    cmd.take_fd_n(theirs_fd, 3)
-        .lifecycle_bind_to_parent_thread();
-    #[allow(unsafe_code)]
-    unsafe {
-        cmd.pre_exec(|| {
-            let pid = rustix::process::getpid();
-            let pid_dec = rustix::path::DecInt::new(pid.as_raw_nonzero().get());
-            libc::setenv(c"LISTEN_PID".as_ptr(), pid_dec.as_c_str().as_ptr(), 1);
-            libc::setenv(c"LISTEN_FDS".as_ptr(), c"1".as_ptr(), 1);
-            libc::setenv(c"LISTEN_FDNAMES".as_ptr(), c"varlink".as_ptr(), 1);
-            Ok(())
-        });
-    }
+    let fds = CmdFds::new_systemd_fds([(theirs_fd, SystemdFdName::new("varlink"))]);
+    // Do NOT use cmd.env() here -- it would cause Rust's Command to build
+    // an envp array that replaces environ after take_fds' setenv calls.
+    cmd.take_fds(fds).lifecycle_bind_to_parent_thread();
     let _child = cmd.spawn()?;
 
     ours.set_nonblocking(true)?;