diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 18fa4fb..f3308a4 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -17,17 +17,6 @@ version = "2.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "512761e0bb2578dd7380c6baaa0f4ce03e84f95e960231d1dec8bf4d7d6e2627"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "ahash"
-version = "0.7.8"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "891477e0c6a8957309ee5c45a6368af3ae14bb510732d2684ffa19af310920f9"
-dependencies = [
- "getrandom",
- "once_cell",
- "version_check",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "ahash"
 version = "0.8.11"
@@ -116,18 +105,6 @@ version = "2.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b048fb63fd8b5923fc5aa7b340d8e156aec7ec02f0c78fa8a6ddc2613f6f71de"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "bitvec"
-version = "1.0.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1bc2832c24239b0141d5674bb9174f9d68a8b5b3f2753311927c172ca46f7e9c"
-dependencies = [
- "funty",
- "radium",
- "tap",
- "wyz",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "bumpalo"
 version = "3.16.0"
@@ -136,24 +113,25 @@ checksum = "79296716171880943b8470b5f8d03aa55eb2e645a4874bdbb28adb49162e012c"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "bytecheck"
-version = "0.6.12"
+version = "0.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "23cdc57ce23ac53c931e88a43d06d070a6fd142f2617be5855eb75efc9beb1c2"
+checksum = "50c8f430744b23b54ad15161fcbc22d82a29b73eacbe425fea23ec822600bc6f"
 dependencies = [
  "bytecheck_derive",
  "ptr_meta",
+ "rancor",
  "simdutf8",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "bytecheck_derive"
-version = "0.6.12"
+version = "0.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "3db406d29fbcd95542e92559bed4d8ad92636d1ca8b3b72ede10b4bcc010e659"
+checksum = "523363cbe1df49b68215efdf500b103ac3b0fb4836aed6d15689a076eadb8fff"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 1.0.109",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -378,12 +356,6 @@ version = "1.0.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "3f9eec918d3f24069decb9af1554cad7c880e2da24a9afd88aca000531ab82c1"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "funty"
-version = "2.0.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "e6d5a32815ae3f33302d95fdcb2ce17862f8c65363dcfd29360480ba1001fc9c"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "getrandom"
 version = "0.2.15"
@@ -413,18 +385,15 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
-version = "0.12.3"
+version = "0.14.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "8a9ee70c43aaf417c914396645a0fa852624801b24ebb7ae78fe8272889ac888"
-dependencies = [
- "ahash 0.7.8",
-]
+checksum = "e5274423e17b7c9fc20b6e7e208532f9b19825d82dfd615708b70edd83df41f1"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
-version = "0.14.5"
+version = "0.15.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "e5274423e17b7c9fc20b6e7e208532f9b19825d82dfd615708b70edd83df41f1"
+checksum = "bf151400ff0baff5465007dd2f3e717f3fe502074ca563069ce3a6629d07b289"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "hermit-abi"
@@ -448,7 +417,7 @@ version = "0.11.21"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "232929e1d75fe899576a3d5c7416ad0d88dbfbb3c3d6aa00873a7408a50ddb88"
 dependencies = [
- "ahash 0.8.11",
+ "ahash",
  "indexmap",
  "is-terminal",
  "itoa",
@@ -563,7 +532,6 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "mmap-sync"
 version = "2.0.1"
 dependencies = [
- "bytecheck",
  "criterion",
  "libc",
  "memmap2",
@@ -575,6 +543,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "wyhash",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "munge"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "64142d38c84badf60abf06ff9bd80ad2174306a5b11bd4706535090a30a419df"
+dependencies = [
+ "munge_macro",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "munge_macro"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1bb5c1d8184f13f7d0ccbeeca0def2f9a181bce2624302793005f5ca8aa62e5e"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "nix"
 version = "0.26.4"
@@ -767,22 +755,22 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ptr_meta"
-version = "0.1.4"
+version = "0.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0738ccf7ea06b608c10564b31debd4f5bc5e197fc8bfe088f68ae5ce81e7a4f1"
+checksum = "fe9e76f66d3f9606f44e45598d155cb13ecf09f4a28199e48daf8c8fc937ea90"
 dependencies = [
  "ptr_meta_derive",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "ptr_meta_derive"
-version = "0.1.4"
+version = "0.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "16b845dbfca988fa33db069c0e230574d15a3088f147a87b64c7589eb662c9ac"
+checksum = "ca414edb151b4c8d125c12566ab0d74dc9cdba36fb80eb7b848c15f495fd32d1"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 1.0.109",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -810,10 +798,13 @@ dependencies = [
 ]
 
 [[package]]
-name = "radium"
-version = "0.7.0"
+name = "rancor"
+version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "dc33ff2d4973d518d823d61aa239014831e521c75da58e3df4840d3f47749d09"
+checksum = "caf5f7161924b9d1cea0e4cabc97c372cea92b5f927fc13c6bca67157a0ad947"
+dependencies = [
+ "ptr_meta",
+]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rand"
@@ -914,9 +905,9 @@ checksum = "7a66a03ae7c801facd77a29370b4faec201768915ac14a721ba36f20bc9c209b"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rend"
-version = "0.4.2"
+version = "0.5.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "71fe3824f5629716b1589be05dacd749f6aa084c87e00e016714a8cdfccc997c"
+checksum = "a35e8a6bf28cd121053a66aa2e6a2e3eaffad4a60012179f0e864aa5ffeff215"
 dependencies = [
  "bytecheck",
 ]
@@ -932,31 +923,32 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rkyv"
-version = "0.7.45"
+version = "0.8.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9008cd6385b9e161d8229e1f6549dd23c3d022f132a2ea37ac3a10ac4935779b"
+checksum = "b11a153aec4a6ab60795f8ebe2923c597b16b05bb1504377451e705ef1a45323"
 dependencies = [
- "bitvec",
  "bytecheck",
  "bytes",
- "hashbrown 0.12.3",
+ "hashbrown 0.15.2",
+ "indexmap",
+ "munge",
  "ptr_meta",
+ "rancor",
  "rend",
  "rkyv_derive",
- "seahash",
  "tinyvec",
  "uuid",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rkyv_derive"
-version = "0.7.45"
+version = "0.8.9"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "503d1d27590a2b0a3a4ca4c94755aa2875657196ecbf401a42eff41d7de532c0"
+checksum = "beb382a4d9f53bd5c0be86b10d8179c3f8a14c30bf774ff77096ed6581e35981"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 1.0.109",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1011,12 +1003,6 @@ version = "1.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "94143f37725109f92c262ed2cf5e59bce7498c01bcc1502d7b9afe439a4e9f49"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "seahash"
-version = "4.1.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "1c107b6f4780854c8b126e228ea8869f4d7b71260f962fefb57b996b8959ba6b"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "serde"
 version = "1.0.210"
@@ -1034,7 +1020,7 @@ checksum = "243902eda00fad750862fc144cea25caca5e20d615af0a81bee94ca738f1df1f"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.77",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1102,17 +1088,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "symbolic-common",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "syn"
-version = "1.0.109"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "72b64191b275b66ffe2469e8af2c1cfe3bafa67b529ead792a6d0160888b4237"
-dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "unicode-ident",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
 version = "2.0.77"
@@ -1124,12 +1099,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "tap"
-version = "1.0.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "55937e1799185b12863d447f42597ed69d9928686b8d88a1df17376a097d8369"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "tempfile"
 version = "3.12.0"
@@ -1160,7 +1129,7 @@ checksum = "a4558b58466b9ad7ca0f102865eccc95938dca1a74a856f2b57b6629050da261"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.77",
+ "syn",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1259,7 +1228,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.77",
+ "syn",
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
 
@@ -1281,7 +1250,7 @@ checksum = "afc340c74d9005395cf9dd098506f7f44e38f2b4a21c6aaacf9a105ea5e1e836"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.77",
+ "syn",
  "wasm-bindgen-backend",
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
@@ -1424,15 +1393,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand_core",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "wyz"
-version = "0.5.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "05f360fc0b24296329c78fda852a1e9ae82de9cf7b27dae4b7f62f118f77b9ed"
-dependencies = [
- "tap",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "zerocopy"
 version = "0.7.35"
@@ -1451,5 +1411,5 @@ checksum = "fa4f8080344d4671fb4e831a13ad1e68092748387dfc4f55e356242fae12ce3e"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 2.0.77",
+ "syn",
 ]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 739697e..0943d2e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,9 +14,8 @@ keywords = ["memory-mapping", "synchronization", "interprocess", "wait-free", "z
 categories = ["os", "filesystem", "concurrency", "data-structures", "memory-management"]
 
 [dependencies]
-bytecheck = { version = "~0.6.8", default-features = false }
 memmap2 = "0.9.4"
-rkyv = { version = "0.7.40", features = ["validation", "strict"] }
+rkyv = "0.8.9"
 thiserror = "1.0.30"
 wyhash = "0.5.0"
 
diff --git a/examples/common/mod.rs b/examples/common/mod.rs
index 96bae63..06eab7b 100644
--- a/examples/common/mod.rs
+++ b/examples/common/mod.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
-use bytecheck::CheckBytes;
 use rkyv::{Archive, Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 /// Example data-structure shared between writer and reader(s)
 #[derive(Archive, Deserialize, Serialize, Debug, PartialEq)]
-#[archive_attr(derive(CheckBytes))]
+#[rkyv(compare(PartialEq), derive(Debug))]
 pub struct HelloWorld {
     pub version: u32,
     pub messages: Vec<String>,
diff --git a/src/synchronizer.rs b/src/synchronizer.rs
index 2cf87d2..de3023e 100644
--- a/src/synchronizer.rs
+++ b/src/synchronizer.rs
@@ -7,11 +7,15 @@ use std::ffi::OsStr;
 use std::hash::{BuildHasher, BuildHasherDefault, Hasher};
 use std::time::Duration;
 
-use bytecheck::CheckBytes;
-use rkyv::ser::serializers::{AlignedSerializer, AllocSerializer};
-use rkyv::ser::Serializer;
-use rkyv::validation::validators::DefaultValidator;
-use rkyv::{archived_root, check_archived_root, AlignedVec, Archive, Serialize};
+use rkyv::{
+    access, access_unchecked,
+    api::high::{to_bytes_with_alloc, HighSerializer, HighValidator},
+    bytecheck::CheckBytes,
+    rancor::Error as RkyvErr,
+    ser::allocator::{Arena, ArenaHandle},
+    util::AlignedVec,
+    Archive, Portable, Serialize,
+};
 use thiserror::Error;
 use wyhash::WyHash;
 
@@ -123,25 +127,18 @@ where
         grace_duration: Duration,
     ) -> Result<(usize, bool), SynchronizerError>
     where
-        T: Serialize<AllocSerializer<N>>,
-        T::Archived: for<'b> CheckBytes<DefaultValidator<'b>>,
+        T: for<'b> Serialize<HighSerializer<AlignedVec, ArenaHandle<'b>, RkyvErr>>,
     {
         let mut buf = self.serialize_buffer.take().ok_or(FailedEntityWrite)?;
         buf.clear();
 
         // serialize given entity into bytes
-        let mut serializer = AllocSerializer::new(
-            AlignedSerializer::new(buf),
-            Default::default(),
-            Default::default(),
-        );
-        let _ = serializer
-            .serialize_value(entity)
-            .map_err(|_| FailedEntityWrite)?;
-        let data = serializer.into_serializer().into_inner();
+        let mut arena = Arena::new();
+        let data = to_bytes_with_alloc::<_, RkyvErr>(entity, arena.acquire())
+            .map_err(|_| SynchronizerError::FailedEntityWrite)?;
 
         // ensure that serialized bytes can be deserialized back to `T` struct successfully
-        check_archived_root::<T>(&data).map_err(|_| FailedEntityRead)?;
+        // check_archived_root::<T>(&data).map_err(|_| FailedEntityRead)?;
 
         // fetch current state from mapped memory
         let state = self.state_container.state::<true>(true)?;
@@ -175,8 +172,7 @@ where
         grace_duration: Duration,
     ) -> Result<(usize, bool), SynchronizerError>
     where
-        T: Serialize<AllocSerializer<N>>,
-        T::Archived: for<'b> CheckBytes<DefaultValidator<'b>>,
+        T: for<'b> Serialize<HighSerializer<AlignedVec, ArenaHandle<'b>, RkyvErr>>,
     {
         // fetch current state from mapped memory
         let state = self.state_container.state::<true>(true)?;
@@ -222,7 +218,7 @@ where
     ) -> Result<ReadResult<T>, SynchronizerError>
     where
         T: Archive,
-        T::Archived: for<'b> CheckBytes<DefaultValidator<'b>>,
+        T::Archived: Portable + for<'c> CheckBytes<HighValidator<'c, RkyvErr>>,
     {
         // fetch current state from mapped memory
         let state = self.state_container.state::<false>(false)?;
@@ -238,8 +234,8 @@ where
 
         // fetch entity from data using zero-copy deserialization
         let entity = match check_bytes {
-            false => archived_root::<T>(data),
-            true => check_archived_root::<T>(data).map_err(|_| FailedEntityRead)?,
+            false => access::<T::Archived, RkyvErr>(data).map_err(|_| FailedEntityRead)?,
+            true => access_unchecked::<T::Archived>(data),
         };
 
         Ok(ReadResult::new(guard, entity, switched))
@@ -261,21 +257,24 @@ mod tests {
     use crate::instance::InstanceVersion;
     use crate::locks::SingleWriter;
     use crate::synchronizer::{Synchronizer, SynchronizerError};
-    use bytecheck::CheckBytes;
     use rand::distributions::Uniform;
     use rand::prelude::*;
-    use rkyv::{Archive, Deserialize, Serialize};
-    use std::collections::HashMap;
+    use rkyv::{
+        with::{Identity, Map, MapKV},
+        Archive, Deserialize, Serialize,
+    };
+    use std::collections::BTreeMap;
     use std::fs;
     use std::path::Path;
     use std::time::Duration;
     use wyhash::WyHash;
 
     #[derive(Archive, Deserialize, Serialize, Debug, PartialEq)]
-    #[archive_attr(derive(CheckBytes))]
+    #[rkyv(derive(Debug))]
     struct MockEntity {
-        version: u32,
-        map: HashMap<u64, Vec<f32>>,
+        version: u64,
+        #[rkyv(with = MapKV<Identity, Map<Identity>>)]
+        map: BTreeMap<u64, Vec<f32>>,
     }
 
     struct MockEntityGenerator {
@@ -292,7 +291,7 @@ mod tests {
         fn gen(&mut self, n: usize) -> MockEntity {
             let mut entity = MockEntity {
                 version: self.rng.gen(),
-                map: HashMap::new(),
+                map: BTreeMap::new(),
             };
             let range = Uniform::<f32>::from(0.0..100.0);
             for _ in 0..n {
@@ -342,7 +341,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!Path::new(&data_path_1).exists());
         assert_eq!(
             reader.version().unwrap(),
-            InstanceVersion(8817430144856633152)
+            InstanceVersion(14199406521913192192)
         );
 
         // check that first time scoped `read` works correctly and switches the data
@@ -361,7 +360,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(Path::new(&data_path_1).exists());
         assert_eq!(
             reader.version().unwrap(),
-            InstanceVersion(1441050725688826209)
+            InstanceVersion(13708579033715857729)
         );
 
         // check that another scoped `read` works correctly and switches the data
@@ -374,7 +373,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(reset, false);
         assert_eq!(
             reader.version().unwrap(),
-            InstanceVersion(14058099486534675680)
+            InstanceVersion(17341169738818006304)
         );
 
         let entity = entity_generator.gen(200);
@@ -383,7 +382,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(reset, false);
         assert_eq!(
             reader.version().unwrap(),
-            InstanceVersion(18228729609619266545)
+            InstanceVersion(1248068842828094129)
         );
 
         fetch_and_assert_entity(&mut reader, &entity, true);