diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 9e83765..a175f19 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/kovidgoyal/imaging v1.8.21
 	github.com/leporo/sqlf v1.4.0
 	github.com/lithammer/shortuuid/v4 v4.2.0
-	github.com/mneis/go-telnet v0.0.0-20221017141824-6f643e477c62
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
 	github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.23.2
 	github.com/rqlite/gorqlite v0.0.0-20250609141355-ac86a4a1c9a8
@@ -60,7 +59,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.6.2 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/common v0.67.5 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/procfs v0.20.1 // indirect
-	github.com/reiver/go-oi v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec // indirect
 	github.com/rwcarlsen/goexif v0.0.0-20190401172101-9e8deecbddbd // indirect
 	github.com/ssor/bom v0.0.0-20170718123548-6386211fdfcf // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 3caa984..9edff93 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -80,8 +80,6 @@ github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.23 h1:7ykA0T0jkPpzSvMS5i9uoNn2Xy3R383f9HDx3Ry
 github.com/mattn/go-runewidth v0.0.23/go.mod h1:XBkDxAl56ILZc9knddidhrOlY5R/pDhgLpndooCuJAs=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.16 h1:yOQRA0RpS5PFz/oikGwBEqvAWhWg5ufRz4ETLjwpU1Y=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.16/go.mod h1:2eHXhiwb8IkHr+BDWZGa96P6+rkvnG63S2DGjv9HUNg=
-github.com/mneis/go-telnet v0.0.0-20221017141824-6f643e477c62 h1:XMG5DklHoioVYysfYglOB7vRBg/LOUJZy2mq2QyedLg=
-github.com/mneis/go-telnet v0.0.0-20221017141824-6f643e477c62/go.mod h1:niAM5cni0I/47IFA995xQfeK58Mkbb7FHJjacY4OGQg=
 github.com/munnerz/goautoneg v0.0.0-20191010083416-a7dc8b61c822 h1:C3w9PqII01/Oq1c1nUAm88MOHcQC9l5mIlSMApZMrHA=
 github.com/munnerz/goautoneg v0.0.0-20191010083416-a7dc8b61c822/go.mod h1:+n7T8mK8HuQTcFwEeznm/DIxMOiR9yIdICNftLE1DvQ=
 github.com/ncruces/go-strftime v1.0.0 h1:HMFp8mLCTPp341M/ZnA4qaf7ZlsbTc+miZjCLOFAw7w=
@@ -106,8 +104,6 @@ github.com/prometheus/common v0.67.5 h1:pIgK94WWlQt1WLwAC5j2ynLaBRDiinoAb86HZHTU
 github.com/prometheus/common v0.67.5/go.mod h1:SjE/0MzDEEAyrdr5Gqc6G+sXI67maCxzaT3A2+HqjUw=
 github.com/prometheus/procfs v0.20.1 h1:XwbrGOIplXW/AU3YhIhLODXMJYyC1isLFfYCsTEycfc=
 github.com/prometheus/procfs v0.20.1/go.mod h1:o9EMBZGRyvDrSPH1RqdxhojkuXstoe4UlK79eF5TGGo=
-github.com/reiver/go-oi v1.0.0 h1:nvECWD7LF+vOs8leNGV/ww+F2iZKf3EYjYZ527turzM=
-github.com/reiver/go-oi v1.0.0/go.mod h1:RrDBct90BAhoDTxB1fenZwfykqeGvhI6LsNfStJoEkI=
 github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec h1:W09IVJc94icq4NjY3clb7Lk8O1qJ8BdBEF8z0ibU0rE=
 github.com/remyoudompheng/bigfft v0.0.0-20230129092748-24d4a6f8daec/go.mod h1:qqbHyh8v60DhA7CoWK5oRCqLrMHRGoxYCSS9EjAz6Eo=
 github.com/rivo/uniseg v0.1.0/go.mod h1:J6wj4VEh+S6ZtnVlnTBMWIodfgj8LQOQFoIToxlJtxc=
diff --git a/sendmail/cmd/cmd.go b/sendmail/cmd/cmd.go
index 5fbad55..7b75ece 100644
--- a/sendmail/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/sendmail/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -24,9 +24,10 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 
+	"net"
+
 	"github.com/axllent/mailpit/config"
 	"github.com/axllent/mailpit/internal/logger"
-	"github.com/mneis/go-telnet"
 	flag "github.com/spf13/pflag"
 )
 
@@ -119,22 +120,25 @@ func Run() {
 	socketAddr, isSocket := socketAddress(SMTPAddr)
 
 	// handles `sendmail -bs`
-	// telnet directly to SMTP
+	// relay stdin/stdout to SMTP connection
 	if UseB && UseS {
-		var caller = telnet.StandardCaller
-		switch isSocket {
-		case true:
-			if err := telnet.DialToAndCallUnix(socketAddr, caller); err != nil {
-				fmt.Println(err)
-				os.Exit(1)
-			}
-		default:
-			if err := telnet.DialToAndCall(SMTPAddr, caller); err != nil {
-				fmt.Println(err)
-				os.Exit(1)
-			}
+		network := "tcp"
+		addr := SMTPAddr
+		if isSocket {
+			network = "unix"
+			addr = socketAddr
 		}
 
+		conn, err := net.Dial(network, addr)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Println(err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		defer func() { _ = conn.Close() }()
+
+		go func() { _, _ = io.Copy(os.Stdout, conn) }()
+		_, _ = io.Copy(conn, os.Stdin)
+
 		return
 	}