diff --git a/BuildBox/Command/Darcs.hs b/BuildBox/Command/Darcs.hs
--- a/BuildBox/Command/Darcs.hs
+++ b/BuildBox/Command/Darcs.hs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 import Data.Time
 import Data.Maybe
 import qualified Data.Sequence          as Seq
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8  as B
+import qualified Data.Text              as Text
 
 -- friends
 import BuildBox.Build
@@ -50,14 +50,12 @@
 --
 
 -- | Retrieve the last N changes from the repository
---
 changesN :: Maybe DarcsPath -> Int -> Build [DarcsPatch]
 changesN repo n =
   darcs $ "darcs changes --last=" ++ show n
                     ++ " --repo=" ++ fromMaybe "." repo
 
 -- | Retrieve all patches submitted to the repository after the given time
---
 changesAfter :: Maybe DarcsPath -> LocalTime -> Build [DarcsPatch]
 changesAfter repo time =
   darcs $ "darcs changes --matches='date \"after " ++ show time ++ "\"'"
@@ -66,7 +64,6 @@
 
 -- Execute the given darcs command string and split the stdout into a series of
 -- patches
---
 darcs :: String -> Build [DarcsPatch]
 darcs cmd = do
   (status, logOut, logErr) <- systemTeeLog False cmd Log.empty
@@ -77,11 +74,11 @@
 splitPatches :: Log.Log -> [DarcsPatch]
 splitPatches l
   | Seq.null l = []
-  | otherwise  = let (h,t) = Seq.breakl B.null l
-                 in  patch h : splitPatches (Seq.dropWhileL B.null t)
+  | otherwise  = let (h,t) = Seq.breakl Text.null l
+                 in  patch h : splitPatches (Seq.dropWhileL Text.null t)
   where
     patch p =
-      let toks          = words . B.unpack $ Seq.index p 0
+      let toks          = words . Text.unpack $ Seq.index p 0
           (time,author) = splitAt 6 toks
       in
       DarcsPatch
diff --git a/BuildBox/Command/System.hs b/BuildBox/Command/System.hs
--- a/BuildBox/Command/System.hs
+++ b/BuildBox/Command/System.hs
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@
 import Control.Monad.STM
 import System.Exit
 import System.IO
-import Data.ByteString.Char8            (ByteString)
+import Data.ByteString                  (ByteString)
 import BuildBox.Data.Log                (Log)
 import System.Process                   hiding (system)
 import qualified BuildBox.Data.Log      as Log
+import qualified Data.Text.Encoding     as Text
 
 debug :: Bool
 debug   = False
@@ -226,8 +227,8 @@
 
 slurpChan :: TChan (Maybe ByteString) -> Log -> IO Log
 slurpChan !chan !ll
- = do   mStr    <- atomically $ readTChan chan
-        case mStr of
-         Nothing        -> return ll
-         Just str       -> slurpChan chan (ll Log.|> str)
+ = do   mBS     <- atomically $ readTChan chan
+        case mBS of
+         Nothing    -> return ll
+         Just bs    -> slurpChan chan (ll Log.|> Text.decodeUtf8 bs)
 
diff --git a/BuildBox/Command/System/Internals.hs b/BuildBox/Command/System/Internals.hs
--- a/BuildBox/Command/System/Internals.hs
+++ b/BuildBox/Command/System/Internals.hs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 import Data.Word
 import Data.ByteString.Char8            (ByteString)
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Internal       as BS
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8          as BS   
+import qualified Data.ByteString                as BS   
 
 import GHC.IO.Handle.Internals
 import GHC.IO.Handle.Types
@@ -60,15 +60,16 @@
                 -- Check whether we got an actual newline character on the
                 -- end of the string.
                 let hasNewLine
-                     | BS.last str == '\n'        = True
-                     | otherwise                  = False
+                     | BS.last str == (fromIntegral $ ord '\n')    
+                                        = True
+                     | otherwise        = False
                  
                 -- For string ending in newline characters, we don't want to
                 -- push the newline to the consumer, but we need to remember
                 -- if we've seen one to handle the end-of-file condition properly.
                 let str'
-                     | hasNewLine                 = BS.init str
-                     | otherwise                  = str
+                     | hasNewLine       = BS.init str
+                     | otherwise        = str
                            
                 atomically $ writeTChan chan (Just str')
                 streamIn' hasNewLine hRead chan)
@@ -182,7 +183,7 @@
                 -- was no newline character on the input.
                 if r == w
                   then mkBigPS new_len (xs:xss)
-                  else mkBigPS new_len (BS.pack "\n" : xs : xss)
+                  else mkBigPS new_len (BS.pack [fromIntegral $ ord '\n'] : xs : xss)
 
          else do
                 fill h_ buf{ bufL=0, bufR=0 } new_len (xs:xss)
diff --git a/BuildBox/Data/Log.hs b/BuildBox/Data/Log.hs
--- a/BuildBox/Data/Log.hs
+++ b/BuildBox/Data/Log.hs
@@ -14,16 +14,16 @@
         , firstLines
         , lastLines)
 where
-import Data.ByteString.Char8            (ByteString)
 import Data.Sequence                    (Seq)
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8  as BS
+import Data.Text                        (Text)
+import qualified Data.Text              as Text
 import qualified Data.Sequence          as Seq
 import qualified Data.Foldable          as F
 import Prelude                          hiding (null)
 
 -- | A sequence of lines, without newline charaters on the end.
 type Log        = Seq Line
-type Line       = ByteString
+type Line       = Text
 
 
 -- | O(1) No logs here.
@@ -37,16 +37,16 @@
 -- | O(n) Convert a `Log` to a `String`.
 toString :: Log -> String
 toString ll     
-        = BS.unpack 
-        $ BS.intercalate (BS.pack "\n") 
+        = Text.unpack 
+        $ Text.intercalate (Text.pack "\n") 
         $ F.toList ll
 
 -- | O(n) Convert a `String` to a `Log`.
 fromString :: String -> Log
 fromString str  
         = Seq.fromList 
-        $ BS.splitWith (== '\n')
-        $ BS.pack str
+        $ Text.lines 
+        $ Text.pack str
 
 
 -- | O(1) Add a `Line` to the start of a `Log`.
diff --git a/buildbox.cabal b/buildbox.cabal
--- a/buildbox.cabal
+++ b/buildbox.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:                buildbox
-Version:             2.1.6.1
+Version:             2.1.7.1
 License:             BSD3
 License-file:        LICENSE
 Author:              Ben Lippmeier
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@
         process        >= 1.2 && < 1.3,
         random         >= 1.0 && < 1.2,
         pretty         >= 1.1 && < 1.2,
-        stm            >= 2.4 && < 2.5
+        stm            >= 2.4 && < 2.5,
+        text           >= 1.2 && < 1.3
 
   ghc-options:
         -Wall