diff --git a/packages/mason/lib/src/generator.dart b/packages/mason/lib/src/generator.dart
index 35e9fbe5f..2a3d767fe 100644
--- a/packages/mason/lib/src/generator.dart
+++ b/packages/mason/lib/src/generator.dart
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import 'dart:async';
 import 'dart:convert';
 import 'dart:io' show Directory, File, FileMode, FileSystemEntity, Process;
 import 'dart:isolate';
+import 'dart:typed_data';
 
 import 'package:checked_yaml/checked_yaml.dart';
 import 'package:collection/collection.dart';
@@ -202,7 +203,7 @@ abstract class Generator implements Comparable<Generator> {
   /// Map of partial files which will be used as includes.
   ///
   /// Contains a Map of partial file path to partial file content.
-  final Map<String, List<int>> partials = {};
+  final Map<String, Uint8List> partials = {};
 
   /// Add a new template file.
   void addTemplateFile(TemplateFile? file) {
@@ -238,7 +239,7 @@ abstract class Generator implements Comparable<Generator> {
         final resultFiles = await _runSubstitutionAsync(
           file,
           Map<String, dynamic>.of(vars),
-          Map<String, List<int>>.of(partials),
+          Map<String, Uint8List>.of(partials),
         );
         final root = RegExp(r'\w:\\|\w:\/');
         final separator = RegExp(r'\/|\\');
@@ -339,7 +340,7 @@ class DirectoryGeneratorTarget extends GeneratorTarget {
   @override
   Future<GeneratedFile> createFile(
     String path,
-    List<int> contents, {
+    Uint8List contents, {
     Logger? logger,
     OverwriteRule? overwriteRule,
   }) async {
@@ -424,7 +425,7 @@ abstract class GeneratorTarget {
   /// Create a file at the given path with the given contents.
   Future<GeneratedFile> createFile(
     String path,
-    List<int> contents, {
+    Uint8List contents, {
     Logger? logger,
     OverwriteRule? overwriteRule,
   });
@@ -447,12 +448,12 @@ class TemplateFile {
   final String path;
 
   /// The template file content.
-  final List<int> content;
+  final Uint8List content;
 
   /// Performs a substitution on the [path] based on the incoming [parameters].
   Set<FileContents> runSubstitution(
     Map<String, dynamic> parameters,
-    Map<String, List<int>> partials,
+    Map<String, Uint8List> partials,
   ) {
     var filePath = path.replaceAll(r'\', '/');
     if (_loopRegExp().hasMatch(filePath)) {
@@ -506,9 +507,9 @@ class TemplateFile {
     }
   }
 
-  List<int> _createContent(
+  Uint8List _createContent(
     Map<String, dynamic> vars,
-    Map<String, List<int>> partials,
+    Map<String, Uint8List> partials,
   ) {
     try {
       final decoded = utf8.decode(content);
@@ -533,7 +534,7 @@ class FileContents {
   final String path;
 
   /// The contents of the file.
-  final List<int> content;
+  final Uint8List content;
 
   @override
   bool operator ==(Object other) {
@@ -584,7 +585,7 @@ class _Permutations<T> {
 Future<Set<FileContents>> _runSubstitutionAsync(
   TemplateFile file,
   Map<String, dynamic> vars,
-  Map<String, List<int>> partials,
+  Map<String, Uint8List> partials,
 ) async {
   return Isolate.run(() => file.runSubstitution(vars, partials));
 }
diff --git a/packages/mason/lib/src/hooks.dart b/packages/mason/lib/src/hooks.dart
index 4d64d9ad8..dd89f4294 100644
--- a/packages/mason/lib/src/hooks.dart
+++ b/packages/mason/lib/src/hooks.dart
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class GeneratorHooks {
   static Future<GeneratorHooks> fromBrickYaml(BrickYaml brick) async {
     HookFile? preGenHook;
     HookFile? postGenHook;
-    List<int>? pubspec;
+    Uint8List? pubspec;
 
     final accumulator = AccumulatorSink<Digest>();
     final sink = sha1.startChunkedConversion(accumulator);
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ class GeneratorHooks {
   final HookFile? postGenHook;
 
   /// Contents of the hooks `pubspec.yaml` if exists.
-  final List<int>? pubspec;
+  final Uint8List? pubspec;
 
   /// The hash of the hooks directory and its contents.
   final String checksum;
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ class HookFile {
   final String path;
 
   /// The template file content.
-  final List<int> content;
+  final Uint8List content;
 }
 
 /// A reference to core mason APIs to be used within hooks.
diff --git a/packages/mason/lib/src/mason_bundle.dart b/packages/mason/lib/src/mason_bundle.dart
index 5ef350ef8..4be4b4074 100644
--- a/packages/mason/lib/src/mason_bundle.dart
+++ b/packages/mason/lib/src/mason_bundle.dart
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import 'dart:convert';
 import 'dart:isolate';
+import 'dart:typed_data';
 
 import 'package:archive/archive.dart';
 import 'package:json_annotation/json_annotation.dart';
@@ -58,7 +59,7 @@ class MasonBundle {
       _$MasonBundleFromJson(json);
 
   /// Converts a universal bundle into a [MasonBundle] instance.
-  static Future<MasonBundle> fromUniversalBundle(List<int> bytes) async {
+  static Future<MasonBundle> fromUniversalBundle(Uint8List bytes) async {
     final bundleJson = await Isolate.run(
       () => json.decode(
         utf8.decode(BZip2Decoder().decodeBytes(bytes)),
@@ -121,11 +122,13 @@ class MasonBundle {
   Map<String, dynamic> toJson() => _$MasonBundleToJson(this);
 
   /// Converts a [MasonBundle] into universal bundle bytes.
-  Future<List<int>> toUniversalBundle() {
+  Future<Uint8List> toUniversalBundle() {
     return Isolate.run(() => _encodeBundle(this));
   }
 
-  Future<List<int>> _encodeBundle(MasonBundle bundle) async {
-    return BZip2Encoder().encode(utf8.encode(json.encode(bundle.toJson())));
+  Future<Uint8List> _encodeBundle(MasonBundle bundle) async {
+    return BZip2Encoder().encodeBytes(
+      utf8.encode(json.encode(bundle.toJson())),
+    );
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/mason/lib/src/render.dart b/packages/mason/lib/src/render.dart
index 9ef43d5c6..f2f929800 100644
--- a/packages/mason/lib/src/render.dart
+++ b/packages/mason/lib/src/render.dart
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import 'dart:convert';
+import 'dart:typed_data';
 
 import 'package:mason/mason.dart';
 import 'package:mustache_template/mustache_template.dart';
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ extension RenderTemplate on String {
   /// {@macro render_template}
   String render(
     Map<String, dynamic> vars, [
-    Map<String, List<int>>? partials = const {},
+    Map<String, Uint8List>? partials = const {},
   ]) {
     final template = Template(
       _sanitizeInput(transpiled()),
@@ -159,7 +160,7 @@ extension on String {
 /// A resolver function which given a partial name.
 /// attempts to return a new [Template].
 /// {@endtemplate}
-extension ResolvePartial on Map<String, List<int>> {
+extension ResolvePartial on Map<String, Uint8List> {
   /// {@macro resolve_partial}
   Template? resolve(String name) {
     final content = this['{{~ $name }}'];
diff --git a/packages/mason/test/src/generator_test.dart b/packages/mason/test/src/generator_test.dart
index c7c396151..de5e11316 100644
--- a/packages/mason/test/src/generator_test.dart
+++ b/packages/mason/test/src/generator_test.dart
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 // ignore_for_file: missing_whitespace_between_adjacent_strings
 import 'dart:io';
+import 'dart:typed_data';
 
 import 'package:mason/mason.dart';
 import 'package:mocktail/mocktail.dart';
@@ -1094,7 +1095,7 @@ void main() {
       group('runSubstitution', () {
         test('handles malformed content', () {
           final tempDir = Directory.systemTemp.createTempSync();
-          final bytes = [0x80, 0x00];
+          final bytes = Uint8List.fromList([0x80, 0x00]);
           final template = TemplateFile.fromBytes(
             path.join(tempDir.path, 'malformed.txt'),
             bytes,
diff --git a/packages/mason_api/lib/src/mason_api.dart b/packages/mason_api/lib/src/mason_api.dart
index 4d4ad0554..7d36bcdee 100644
--- a/packages/mason_api/lib/src/mason_api.dart
+++ b/packages/mason_api/lib/src/mason_api.dart
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import 'dart:convert';
 import 'dart:io';
+import 'dart:typed_data';
 
 import 'package:cli_util/cli_util.dart';
 import 'package:http/http.dart' as http;
@@ -184,7 +185,7 @@ class MasonApi {
   void logout() => _clearCredentials();
 
   /// Publish universal [bundle] to remote registry.
-  Future<void> publish({required List<int> bundle}) async {
+  Future<void> publish({required Uint8List bundle}) async {
     var credentials = _credentials;
 
     if (credentials == null) {
diff --git a/packages/mason_api/test/src/mason_api_test.dart b/packages/mason_api/test/src/mason_api_test.dart
index ae40cf5c2..8781c426b 100644
--- a/packages/mason_api/test/src/mason_api_test.dart
+++ b/packages/mason_api/test/src/mason_api_test.dart
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import 'dart:convert';
 import 'dart:io';
+import 'dart:typed_data';
 
 import 'package:http/http.dart' as http;
 import 'package:mason_api/mason_api.dart';
@@ -331,7 +332,7 @@ void main() {
         );
 
         try {
-          await masonApi.publish(bundle: <int>[]);
+          await masonApi.publish(bundle: Uint8List.fromList([]));
           fail('should throw');
         } on MasonApiPublishFailure catch (error) {
           expect(
@@ -347,7 +348,7 @@ void main() {
     });
 
     group('publish', () {
-      final bytes = <int>[42];
+      final bytes = Uint8List.fromList([42]);
 
       test('throws when user not found', () async {
         File(
diff --git a/packages/mason_cli/test/commands/publish_test.dart b/packages/mason_cli/test/commands/publish_test.dart
index f6debd072..8851bdf2b 100644
--- a/packages/mason_cli/test/commands/publish_test.dart
+++ b/packages/mason_cli/test/commands/publish_test.dart
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import 'dart:io';
+import 'dart:typed_data';
 
 import 'package:args/args.dart';
 import 'package:args/command_runner.dart';
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ void main() {
 
   setUpAll(() {
     registerFallbackValue(FakeUri());
+    registerFallbackValue(Uint8List.fromList([]));
   });
 
   group('PublishCommand', () {