diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 9955fe703..327476c4f 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/things-go/go-socks5 v0.0.4
 	github.com/yusufpapurcu/wmi v1.2.4
 	github.com/zcalusic/sysinfo v1.0.2
-	go.mongodb.org/mongo-driver v1.16.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.26.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/prometheus v0.48.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.26.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index db50be34a..84eec1545 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -511,8 +511,6 @@ github.com/yusufpapurcu/wmi v1.2.4 h1:zFUKzehAFReQwLys1b/iSMl+JQGSCSjtVqQn9bBrPo
 github.com/yusufpapurcu/wmi v1.2.4/go.mod h1:SBZ9tNy3G9/m5Oi98Zks0QjeHVDvuK0qfxQmPyzfmi0=
 github.com/zcalusic/sysinfo v1.0.2 h1:nwTTo2a+WQ0NXwo0BGRojOJvJ/5XKvQih+2RrtWqfxc=
 github.com/zcalusic/sysinfo v1.0.2/go.mod h1:kluzTYflRWo6/tXVMJPdEjShsbPpsFRyy+p1mBQPC30=
-go.mongodb.org/mongo-driver v1.16.0 h1:tpRsfBJMROVHKpdGyc1BBEzzjDUWjItxbVSZ8Ls4BQ4=
-go.mongodb.org/mongo-driver v1.16.0/go.mod h1:oB6AhJQvFQL4LEHyXi6aJzQJtBiTQHiAd83l0GdFaiw=
 go.opencensus.io v0.24.0 h1:y73uSU6J157QMP2kn2r30vwW1A2W2WFwSCGnAVxeaD0=
 go.opencensus.io v0.24.0/go.mod h1:vNK8G9p7aAivkbmorf4v+7Hgx+Zs0yY+0fOtgBfjQKo=
 go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp v0.51.0 h1:Xs2Ncz0gNihqu9iosIZ5SkBbWo5T8JhhLJFMQL1qmLI=
diff --git a/relay/messages/message.go b/relay/messages/message.go
index 5177b691d..991bc36d0 100644
--- a/relay/messages/message.go
+++ b/relay/messages/message.go
@@ -2,10 +2,9 @@ package messages
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"encoding/gob"
 	"fmt"
 
-	"go.mongodb.org/mongo-driver/bson"
-
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
@@ -107,14 +106,19 @@ func MarshalHelloResponse(DomainAddress string) ([]byte, error) {
 	payload := HelloResponse{
 		DomainAddress: DomainAddress,
 	}
-	helloResponse, err := bson.Marshal(payload)
+
+	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	enc := gob.NewEncoder(buf)
+
+	err := enc.Encode(payload)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Errorf("failed to marshal hello response: %s", err)
+		log.Errorf("failed to gob encode hello response: %s", err)
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	msg := make([]byte, 1, 1+len(helloResponse))
+
+	msg := make([]byte, 1, 1+buf.Len())
 	msg[0] = byte(MsgTypeHelloResponse)
-	msg = append(msg, helloResponse...)
+	msg = append(msg, buf.Bytes()...)
 	return msg, nil
 }
 
@@ -123,9 +127,12 @@ func UnmarshalHelloResponse(msg []byte) (string, error) {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid 'hello response' message")
 	}
 	payload := HelloResponse{}
-	err := bson.Unmarshal(msg[1:], &payload)
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(msg[1:])
+	dec := gob.NewDecoder(buf)
+
+	err := dec.Decode(&payload)
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Errorf("failed to unmarshal hello response: %s", err)
+		log.Errorf("failed to gob decode hello response: %s", err)
 		return "", err
 	}
 	return payload.DomainAddress, nil