diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d6f51e68..362fea2e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -11,12 +11,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "gimli",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "adler2"
-version = "2.0.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "320119579fcad9c21884f5c4861d16174d0e06250625266f50fe6898340abefa"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "aho-corasick"
 version = "1.1.3"
@@ -109,12 +103,6 @@ version = "1.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d92bec98840b8f03a5ff5413de5293bfcd8bf96467cf5452609f939ec6f5de16"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "base64"
-version = "0.22.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "72b3254f16251a8381aa12e40e3c4d2f0199f8c6508fbecb9d91f575e0fbb8c6"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "bindgen"
 version = "0.72.0"
@@ -636,22 +624,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.60.2",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "flate2"
-version = "1.1.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "4a3d7db9596fecd151c5f638c0ee5d5bd487b6e0ea232e5dc96d5250f6f94b1d"
-dependencies = [
- "crc32fast",
- "miniz_oxide",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "fnv"
-version = "1.0.7"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3f9eec918d3f24069decb9af1554cad7c880e2da24a9afd88aca000531ab82c1"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "foldhash"
 version = "0.1.5"
@@ -784,23 +756,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "utf8-width",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "http"
-version = "1.3.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f4a85d31aea989eead29a3aaf9e1115a180df8282431156e533de47660892565"
-dependencies = [
- "bytes",
- "fnv",
- "itoa",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "httparse"
-version = "1.10.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "6dbf3de79e51f3d586ab4cb9d5c3e2c14aa28ed23d180cf89b4df0454a69cc87"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "httpdate"
 version = "1.0.3"
@@ -1176,15 +1131,6 @@ version = "0.2.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "68354c5c6bd36d73ff3feceb05efa59b6acb7626617f4962be322a825e61f79a"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "miniz_oxide"
-version = "0.8.9"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1fa76a2c86f704bdb222d66965fb3d63269ce38518b83cb0575fca855ebb6316"
-dependencies = [
- "adler2",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "mio"
 version = "1.0.4"
@@ -1538,20 +1484,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "bytemuck",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "ring"
-version = "0.17.14"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a4689e6c2294d81e88dc6261c768b63bc4fcdb852be6d1352498b114f61383b7"
-dependencies = [
- "cc",
- "cfg-if",
- "getrandom 0.2.16",
- "libc",
- "untrusted",
- "windows-sys 0.52.0",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "rustc-hash"
 version = "2.1.1"
@@ -1584,50 +1516,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.60.2",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "rustls"
-version = "0.23.31"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c0ebcbd2f03de0fc1122ad9bb24b127a5a6cd51d72604a3f3c50ac459762b6cc"
-dependencies = [
- "log",
- "once_cell",
- "ring",
- "rustls-pki-types",
- "rustls-webpki",
- "subtle",
- "zeroize",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "rustls-pemfile"
-version = "2.2.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "dce314e5fee3f39953d46bb63bb8a46d40c2f8fb7cc5a3b6cab2bde9721d6e50"
-dependencies = [
- "rustls-pki-types",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "rustls-pki-types"
-version = "1.12.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "229a4a4c221013e7e1f1a043678c5cc39fe5171437c88fb47151a21e6f5b5c79"
-dependencies = [
- "zeroize",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "rustls-webpki"
-version = "0.103.4"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0a17884ae0c1b773f1ccd2bd4a8c72f16da897310a98b0e84bf349ad5ead92fc"
-dependencies = [
- "ring",
- "rustls-pki-types",
- "untrusted",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "ryu"
 version = "1.0.20"
@@ -1742,12 +1630,6 @@ version = "0.11.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7da8b5736845d9f2fcb837ea5d9e2628564b3b043a70948a3f0b778838c5fb4f"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "subtle"
-version = "2.6.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "13c2bddecc57b384dee18652358fb23172facb8a2c51ccc10d74c157bdea3292"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
 version = "2.0.106"
@@ -1770,17 +1652,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "tar"
-version = "0.4.44"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1d863878d212c87a19c1a610eb53bb01fe12951c0501cf5a0d65f724914a667a"
-dependencies = [
- "filetime",
- "libc",
- "xattr",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "target-lexicon"
 version = "0.13.2"
@@ -2037,7 +1908,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "cc",
  "etcetera",
- "flate2",
  "fs4",
  "indoc",
  "libloading",
@@ -2047,12 +1917,10 @@ dependencies = [
  "semver",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
- "tar",
  "tempfile",
  "tree-sitter",
  "tree-sitter-highlight",
  "tree-sitter-tags",
- "ureq",
  "url",
 ]
 
@@ -2095,42 +1963,6 @@ version = "0.2.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7264e107f553ccae879d21fbea1d6724ac785e8c3bfc762137959b5802826ef3"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "untrusted"
-version = "0.9.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8ecb6da28b8a351d773b68d5825ac39017e680750f980f3a1a85cd8dd28a47c1"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "ureq"
-version = "3.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "00432f493971db5d8e47a65aeb3b02f8226b9b11f1450ff86bb772776ebadd70"
-dependencies = [
- "base64",
- "flate2",
- "log",
- "percent-encoding",
- "rustls",
- "rustls-pemfile",
- "rustls-pki-types",
- "ureq-proto",
- "utf-8",
- "webpki-roots",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "ureq-proto"
-version = "0.5.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c5b6cabebbecc4c45189ab06b52f956206cea7d8c8a20851c35a85cb169224cc"
-dependencies = [
- "base64",
- "http",
- "httparse",
- "log",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "url"
 version = "2.5.7"
@@ -2143,12 +1975,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "utf-8"
-version = "0.7.6"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "09cc8ee72d2a9becf2f2febe0205bbed8fc6615b7cb429ad062dc7b7ddd036a9"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "utf8-width"
 version = "0.1.7"
@@ -2508,15 +2334,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "web-sys",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "webpki-roots"
-version = "1.0.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "7e8983c3ab33d6fb807cfcdad2491c4ea8cbc8ed839181c7dfd9c67c83e261b2"
-dependencies = [
- "rustls-pki-types",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "widestring"
 version = "1.2.0"
@@ -2791,16 +2608,6 @@ version = "0.6.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ea2f10b9bb0928dfb1b42b65e1f9e36f7f54dbdf08457afefb38afcdec4fa2bb"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "xattr"
-version = "1.5.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "af3a19837351dc82ba89f8a125e22a3c475f05aba604acc023d62b2739ae2909"
-dependencies = [
- "libc",
- "rustix 1.0.8",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "xtask"
 version = "0.1.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d904bf5a..10f31590 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -122,7 +122,6 @@ ctrlc = { version = "3.4.7", features = ["termination"] }
 dialoguer = { version = "0.11.0", features = ["fuzzy-select"] }
 etcetera = "0.10.0"
 filetime = "0.2.26"
-flate2 = "1.1.2"
 fs4 = "0.12.0"
 git2 = "0.20.2"
 glob = "0.3.3"
@@ -147,7 +146,6 @@ serde_json = { version = "1.0.143", features = ["preserve_order"] }
 similar = "2.7.0"
 smallbitvec = "2.6.0"
 streaming-iterator = "0.1.9"
-tar = "0.4.40"
 tempfile = "3.21.0"
 thiserror = "2.0.16"
 tiny_http = "0.12.0"
diff --git a/crates/loader/Cargo.toml b/crates/loader/Cargo.toml
index 6e9e5760..3d2146f8 100644
--- a/crates/loader/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/loader/Cargo.toml
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ default = ["tree-sitter-highlight", "tree-sitter-tags"]
 anyhow.workspace = true
 cc.workspace = true
 etcetera.workspace = true
-flate2.workspace = true
 fs4.workspace = true
 indoc.workspace = true
 libloading.workspace = true
@@ -41,7 +40,6 @@ regex.workspace = true
 semver.workspace = true
 serde.workspace = true
 serde_json.workspace = true
-tar.workspace = true
 tempfile.workspace = true
 url.workspace = true
 
diff --git a/crates/loader/src/loader.rs b/crates/loader/src/loader.rs
index ee5b43c6..f7247956 100644
--- a/crates/loader/src/loader.rs
+++ b/crates/loader/src/loader.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use std::sync::Mutex;
 use std::{
     collections::HashMap,
     env, fs,
-    io::{BufRead, BufReader, Write as _},
+    io::{BufRead, BufReader},
     marker::PhantomData,
     mem,
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ use std::{
 use anyhow::Error;
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Context, Result};
 use etcetera::BaseStrategy as _;
-use flate2::read::GzDecoder;
 use fs4::fs_std::FileExt;
 use indoc::indoc;
 use libloading::{Library, Symbol};
@@ -1073,35 +1072,29 @@ impl Loader {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    /// Extracts a tar.gz archive, stripping the first path component.
-    ///
-    /// Similar to `tar -xzf <archive> --strip-components=1`
+    /// Extracts a tar.gz archive with `tar`, stripping the first path component.
     fn extract_tar_gz_with_strip(
         &self,
         archive_path: &Path,
         destination: &Path,
     ) -> Result<(), Error> {
-        let archive_file = fs::File::open(archive_path).context("Failed to open archive")?;
-        let mut archive = tar::Archive::new(GzDecoder::new(archive_file));
-        for entry in archive
-            .entries()
-            .with_context(|| "Failed to read archive entries")?
-        {
-            let mut entry = entry?;
-            let path = entry.path()?;
-            let Some(first_component) = path.components().next() else {
-                continue;
-            };
-            let dest_path = destination.join(path.strip_prefix(first_component).unwrap());
-            if let Some(parent) = dest_path.parent() {
-                fs::create_dir_all(parent).with_context(|| {
-                    format!("Failed to create directory at {}", parent.display())
-                })?;
-            }
-            entry
-                .unpack(&dest_path)
-                .with_context(|| format!("Failed to extract file to {}", dest_path.display()))?;
+        let status = Command::new("tar")
+            .arg("-xzf")
+            .arg(archive_path)
+            .arg("--strip-components=1")
+            .arg("-C")
+            .arg(destination)
+            .status()
+            .with_context(|| format!("Failed to execute tar for {}", archive_path.display()))?;
+
+        if !status.success() {
+            return Err(anyhow!(
+                "Failed to extract archive {} to {}",
+                archive_path.display(),
+                destination.display()
+            ));
         }
+
         Ok(())
     }