diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 3b7542a..5201d6e 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) void {
   const xkbcommon = b.dependency("xkbcommon", .{}).module("xkbcommon");
   const pixman = b.dependency("pixman", .{}).module("pixman");
   const wlroots = b.dependency("wlroots", .{}).module("wlroots");
-  const zlua = b.dependency("zlua", .{}).module("zlua");
+  const zlua = b.dependency("zlua", .{ .lang = .luajit }).module("zlua");
   const clap = b.dependency("clap", .{}).module("clap");
 
   wlroots.addImport("wayland", wayland);
diff --git a/build.zig.zon b/build.zig.zon
index e66c88f..b4a523b 100644
--- a/build.zig.zon
+++ b/build.zig.zon
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
             .hash = "wlroots-0.19.3-jmOlcuL_AwBHhLCwpFsXbTizE3q9BugFmGX-XIxqcPMc",
         },
         .zlua = .{
-            .url = "git+https://github.com/natecraddock/ziglua#39f8df588d0864070deffa308ef575bf492777a0",
-            .hash = "zlua-0.1.0-hGRpC6E9BQDBGKPqzmCRsI6Xd8jH9KohccmX69-L6HyS",
+            .url = "git+https://github.com/natecraddock/ziglua?ref=0.6.0#315b7f25efd29d9e2143d6c0ab685bb7f640450f",
+            .hash = "zlua-0.1.0-hGRpCww-BQCx3cX6zbKWfTgOx6B7Peo4P17RK2hm7-xV",
         },
         .clap = .{
             .url = "https://github.com/Hejsil/zig-clap/archive/refs/tags/0.11.0.tar.gz",
diff --git a/src/RemoteLua.zig b/src/RemoteLua.zig
index d5e5f92..93d0e04 100644
--- a/src/RemoteLua.zig
+++ b/src/RemoteLua.zig
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ const std = @import("std");
 const zlua = @import("zlua");
 const wayland = @import("wayland");
 const Utils = @import("Utils.zig");
+const LuaUtils = @import("lua/LuaUtils.zig");
 const Lua = @import("lua/Lua.zig");
 const wl = wayland.server.wl;
 const mez = wayland.server.zmez;
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ remote: *RemoteLua,
       }, 0) catch return catchLuaFail(remote);
       defer gpa.free(str);
 
-      zlua.Lua.loadBuffer(L, str, "=repl", zlua.Mode.text) catch {
+      zlua.Lua.loadBuffer(L, str, "=repl") catch {
         L.pop(L.getTop());
         L.loadString(chunk) catch {
           catchLuaFail(remote);
@@ -82,8 +83,7 @@ remote: *RemoteLua,
       var i: i32 = 1;
       const nresults = L.getTop();
       while (i <= nresults) : (i += 1) {
-        // TODO: support lua5.1 and luajit?
-        sendNewLogEntry(L.toStringEx(i));
+        sendNewLogEntry(LuaUtils.toStringEx(L));
         L.pop(-1);
       }
     },
@@ -101,6 +101,6 @@ fn handleDestroy(_: *mez.RemoteLuaV1, remote_lua: *RemoteLua) void {
 }
 
 fn catchLuaFail(remote: *RemoteLua) void {
-  const err: [:0]const u8 = remote.L.toStringEx(-1);
+  const err: [:0]const u8 = LuaUtils.toStringEx(remote.L);
   sendNewLogEntry(std.mem.sliceTo(err, 0));
 }
diff --git a/src/lua/Lua.zig b/src/lua/Lua.zig
index f993e9c..90e164d 100644
--- a/src/lua/Lua.zig
+++ b/src/lua/Lua.zig
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ const std = @import("std");
 const config = @import("config");
 const zlua = @import("zlua");
 
+const LuaUtils = @import("LuaUtils.zig");
 const Bridge = @import("Bridge.zig");
 const Fs =     @import("Fs.zig");
 const Input =  @import("Input.zig");
@@ -110,32 +111,32 @@ pub fn openLibs(self: *zlua.Lua) void {
     }
     {
       const fs_funcs = zlua.fnRegsFromType(Fs);
-      self.newLib(fs_funcs);
+      LuaUtils.newLib(self, fs_funcs);
       self.setField(-2, "fs");
     }
     {
       const input_funcs = zlua.fnRegsFromType(Input);
-      self.newLib(input_funcs);
+      LuaUtils.newLib(self, input_funcs);
       self.setField(-2, "input");
     }
     {
       const hook_funcs = zlua.fnRegsFromType(Hook);
-      self.newLib(hook_funcs);
+      LuaUtils.newLib(self, hook_funcs);
       self.setField(-2, "hook");
     }
     {
       const api_funcs = zlua.fnRegsFromType(Api);
-      self.newLib(api_funcs);
+      LuaUtils.newLib(self, api_funcs);
       self.setField(-2, "api");
     }
     {
       const view_funcs = zlua.fnRegsFromType(View);
-      self.newLib(view_funcs);
+      LuaUtils.newLib(self, view_funcs);
       self.setField(-2, "view");
     }
     {
       const output_funcs = zlua.fnRegsFromType(Output);
-      self.newLib(output_funcs);
+      LuaUtils.newLib(self, output_funcs);
       self.setField(-2, "output");
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/lua/LuaUtils.zig b/src/lua/LuaUtils.zig
index d99f30d..bcc5761 100644
--- a/src/lua/LuaUtils.zig
+++ b/src/lua/LuaUtils.zig
@@ -24,3 +24,22 @@ pub fn coerceInteger(comptime x: type, number: zlua.Integer) error{InvalidIntege
     else => @compileError("unsupported type"),
   }
 }
+
+pub fn newLib(L: *zlua.Lua, f: []const zlua.FnReg) void {
+  L.newLibTable(f); // documented as being unavailable, but it is.
+  for (f) |value| {
+    if (value.func == null) continue;
+    L.pushClosure(value.func.?, 0);
+    L.setField(-2, value.name);
+  }
+}
+
+/// makes a best effort to convert the value at the top of the stack to a string
+/// if we're unable to do so return "nil"
+pub fn toStringEx(L: *zlua.Lua) [:0]const u8 {
+  const errstr = "nil";
+  _ = L.getGlobal("tostring") catch return errstr;
+  L.insert(1);
+  L.protectedCall(.{ .args = 1, .results = 1 }) catch return errstr;
+  return L.toString(-1) catch errstr;
+}