diff --git a/src/Config.zig b/src/Config.zig
index 51e5fd6..b89bfe3 100644
--- a/src/Config.zig
+++ b/src/Config.zig
@@ -151,8 +151,8 @@ fn addFallbackKeybinds(config: *Config) void {
     const fallbacks = [_]Entry{
         .{ .{ .modifiers = .{ .ctrl = true, .mod1 = true }, .keysym = .Delete }, @unionInit(XkbBindings.Command, "exit_river", {}) },
         .{ .{ .modifiers = .{ .mod4 = true, .shift = true }, .keysym = .R }, @unionInit(XkbBindings.Command, "reload_config", {}) },
-        .{ .{ .modifiers = .{ .mod4 = true }, .keysym = .T }, .{ .spawn = utils.gpa.dupe([]const u8, &.{
-            utils.gpa.dupe(u8, "foot") catch @panic("Out of memory"),
+        .{ .{ .modifiers = .{ .mod4 = true }, .keysym = .T }, .{ .spawn = utils.gpa.dupe([:0]const u8, &.{
+            utils.gpa.dupeZ(u8, "foot") catch @panic("Out of memory"),
         }) catch @panic("Out of memory") } },
     };
     for (&fallbacks) |*entry| {
diff --git a/src/XkbBindings.zig b/src/XkbBindings.zig
index f5ea952..d18272d 100644
--- a/src/XkbBindings.zig
+++ b/src/XkbBindings.zig
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 const XkbBindings = @This();
 
 pub const Command = union(enum) {
-    spawn: []const []const u8,
+    spawn: []const [:0]const u8,
     focus_next_window,
     focus_prev_window,
     focus_next_output,
@@ -139,13 +139,7 @@ const XkbBinding = struct {
 
         // TODO: Should I log.warn when commands return early?
         switch (xkb_binding.command) {
-            .spawn => |cmd| {
-                var child = std.process.Child.init(cmd, utils.gpa);
-                child.env_map = &context.env;
-                _ = child.spawn() catch |err| {
-                    log.err("Failed to spawn \"{s}\": {}", .{ cmd[0], err });
-                };
-            },
+            .spawn => |cmd| spawnProcess(cmd),
             .focus_next_window => focusWindow(context, .next),
             .focus_prev_window => focusWindow(context, .prev),
             .focus_next_output => focusOutput(context, .next),
@@ -403,6 +397,44 @@ const XkbBinding = struct {
         }
     }
 
+    // Borrowed and modified from river-classic
+    // https://codeberg.org/river/river-classic/src/commit/d72408df18310d5945147d485fe4bb66eef043d3/river/process.zig
+    fn spawnProcess(cmd: []const [:0]const u8) void {
+        const pid = posix.fork() catch |err| {
+            return log.err("Failed to fork \"{s}\": {}", .{ cmd[0], err });
+        };
+
+        if (pid == 0) {
+            cleanupChild();
+
+            const c_argv = utils.gpa.allocSentinel(?[*:0]const u8, cmd.len, null) catch posix.exit(1);
+            for (cmd, 0..) |arg, i| c_argv[i] = arg.ptr;
+
+            const pid2 = posix.fork() catch posix.exit(1);
+            if (pid2 == 0) {
+                posix.execvpeZ(c_argv[0].?, c_argv, std.c.environ) catch posix.exit(1);
+            }
+
+            posix.exit(0);
+        }
+
+        _ = posix.waitpid(pid, 0);
+    }
+
+    // Borrowed and modified from river-classic
+    // https://codeberg.org/river/river-classic/src/commit/d72408df18310d5945147d485fe4bb66eef043d3/river/process.zig
+    fn cleanupChild() void {
+        _ = posix.setsid() catch unreachable;
+        if (posix.system.sigprocmask(posix.SIG.SETMASK, &posix.sigemptyset(), null) < 0) unreachable;
+
+        const sig_dfl = posix.Sigaction{
+            .handler = .{ .handler = posix.SIG.DFL },
+            .mask = posix.sigemptyset(),
+            .flags = 0,
+        };
+        posix.sigaction(posix.SIG.PIPE, &sig_dfl, null);
+    }
+
     fn moveFloatingWindow(context: *Context, dx: i32, dy: i32) void {
         const seat = context.wm.seats.first() orelse return;
         const window = seat.focused_window orelse return;
@@ -532,6 +564,8 @@ pub fn manage(xkb_bindings: *XkbBindings) void {
 
 const std = @import("std");
 const assert = std.debug.assert;
+const posix = std.posix;
+const process = std.process;
 
 const wayland = @import("wayland");
 const wl = wayland.client.wl;
diff --git a/src/config/helpers.zig b/src/config/helpers.zig
index ffc5643..7fcdedc 100644
--- a/src/config/helpers.zig
+++ b/src/config/helpers.zig
@@ -38,12 +38,13 @@ pub fn parseButton(s: []const u8) ?u32 {
     return fmt.parseInt(u32, s, 0) catch null;
 }
 
-pub fn expandTilde(path: []const u8) ![]const u8 {
+/// Expand a tilde in a string to the user's $HOME directory
+pub fn expandTilde(path: []const u8) ![:0]const u8 {
     if (path.len > 0 and path[0] == '~') {
-        const home = std.posix.getenv("HOME") orelse return error.HomeNotSet;
-        return std.fmt.allocPrint(utils.gpa, "{s}{s}", .{ home, path[1..] });
+        const home = posix.getenv("HOME") orelse return error.HomeNotSet;
+        return mem.concatWithSentinel(utils.gpa, u8, &.{ home, path[1..] }, 0);
     }
-    return utils.gpa.dupe(u8, path);
+    return utils.gpa.dupeZ(u8, path);
 }
 
 /// Check whether this machine's hostname matches the hostname property
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ pub inline fn logWarnInvalidNode(node_name: []const u8) void {
 const std = @import("std");
 const fmt = std.fmt;
 const mem = std.mem;
+const posix = std.posix;
 
 const kdl = @import("kdl");
 
diff --git a/src/utils.zig b/src/utils.zig
index 80a60d4..0718ed2 100644
--- a/src/utils.zig
+++ b/src/utils.zig
@@ -162,8 +162,8 @@ pub fn parseModifiers(s: []const u8) !?river.SeatV1.Modifiers {
 /// Split a string into tokens, respecting single and double quotes.
 /// Quoted sections have their quotes stripped. Returns an error if
 /// a quote is opened but never closed.
-pub fn tokenizeShell(input: []const u8) ![][]const u8 {
-    var list: std.ArrayList([]const u8) = .empty;
+pub fn tokenizeShell(input: []const u8) ![][:0]const u8 {
+    var list: std.ArrayList([:0]const u8) = .empty;
     errdefer {
         for (list.items) |item| gpa.free(item);
         list.deinit(gpa);
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ pub fn tokenizeShell(input: []const u8) ![][]const u8 {
                 i += 1;
             }
         }
-        try list.append(gpa, try token.toOwnedSlice(gpa));
+        try list.append(gpa, try token.toOwnedSliceSentinel(gpa, 0));
     }
     return list.toOwnedSlice(gpa);
 }