diff --git a/src/Surface.zig b/src/Surface.zig
index 00dc9ce55..554c3b01c 100644
--- a/src/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/Surface.zig
@@ -426,51 +426,50 @@ pub fn init(
     };
 
     // Start our IO implementation
-    var io_exec = try termio.Exec.init(alloc, .{
-        .command = config.command,
-        .shell_integration = config.@"shell-integration",
-        .shell_integration_features = config.@"shell-integration-features",
-        .working_directory = config.@"working-directory",
-        .resources_dir = main.state.resources_dir,
-        .term = config.term,
+    // This separate block ({}) is important because our errdefers must
+    // be scoped here to be valid.
+    {
+        // Initialize our IO backend
+        var io_exec = try termio.Exec.init(alloc, .{
+            .command = config.command,
+            .shell_integration = config.@"shell-integration",
+            .shell_integration_features = config.@"shell-integration-features",
+            .working_directory = config.@"working-directory",
+            .resources_dir = main.state.resources_dir,
+            .term = config.term,
 
-        // Get the cgroup if we're on linux and have the decl. I'd love
-        // to change this from a decl to a surface options struct because
-        // then we can do memory management better (don't need to retain
-        // the string around).
-        .linux_cgroup = if (comptime builtin.os.tag == .linux and
-            @hasDecl(apprt.runtime.Surface, "cgroup"))
-            rt_surface.cgroup()
-        else
-            Command.linux_cgroup_default,
-    });
-    errdefer io_exec.deinit();
-    var io_writer = try termio.Writer.initMailbox(alloc);
-    errdefer io_writer.deinit(alloc);
-    try termio.Termio.init(&self.io, alloc, .{
-        .grid_size = grid_size,
-        .screen_size = screen_size,
-        .padding = padding,
-        .full_config = config,
-        .config = try termio.Termio.DerivedConfig.init(alloc, config),
-        .reader = .{ .exec = io_exec },
-        .writer = io_writer,
-        .resources_dir = main.state.resources_dir,
-        .renderer_state = &self.renderer_state,
-        .renderer_wakeup = render_thread.wakeup,
-        .renderer_mailbox = render_thread.mailbox,
-        .surface_mailbox = .{ .surface = self, .app = app_mailbox },
+            // Get the cgroup if we're on linux and have the decl. I'd love
+            // to change this from a decl to a surface options struct because
+            // then we can do memory management better (don't need to retain
+            // the string around).
+            .linux_cgroup = if (comptime builtin.os.tag == .linux and
+                @hasDecl(apprt.runtime.Surface, "cgroup"))
+                rt_surface.cgroup()
+            else
+                Command.linux_cgroup_default,
+        });
+        errdefer io_exec.deinit();
 
-        // Get the cgroup if we're on linux and have the decl. I'd love
-        // to change this from a decl to a surface options struct because
-        // then we can do memory management better (don't need to retain
-        // the string around).
-        .linux_cgroup = if (comptime builtin.os.tag == .linux and
-            @hasDecl(apprt.runtime.Surface, "cgroup"))
-            rt_surface.cgroup()
-        else
-            Command.linux_cgroup_default,
-    });
+        // Initialize our IO writer
+        var io_writer = try termio.Writer.initMailbox(alloc);
+        errdefer io_writer.deinit(alloc);
+
+        try termio.Termio.init(&self.io, alloc, .{
+            .grid_size = grid_size,
+            .screen_size = screen_size,
+            .padding = padding,
+            .full_config = config,
+            .config = try termio.Termio.DerivedConfig.init(alloc, config),
+            .reader = .{ .exec = io_exec },
+            .writer = io_writer,
+            .renderer_state = &self.renderer_state,
+            .renderer_wakeup = render_thread.wakeup,
+            .renderer_mailbox = render_thread.mailbox,
+            .surface_mailbox = .{ .surface = self, .app = app_mailbox },
+        });
+    }
+    // Outside the block, IO has now taken ownership of our temporary state
+    // so we can just defer this and not the subcomponents.
     errdefer self.io.deinit();
 
     // Report initial cell size on surface creation
diff --git a/src/termio/Options.zig b/src/termio/Options.zig
index 7e97f7dfd..19de39756 100644
--- a/src/termio/Options.zig
+++ b/src/termio/Options.zig
@@ -32,9 +32,6 @@ reader: termio.Reader,
 /// If you're using termio.Thread this MUST be "mailbox".
 writer: termio.Writer,
 
-/// The application resources directory.
-resources_dir: ?[]const u8,
-
 /// The render state. The IO implementation can modify anything here. The
 /// surface thread will setup the initial "terminal" pointer but the IO impl
 /// is free to change that if that is useful (i.e. doing some sort of dual
@@ -50,7 +47,3 @@ renderer_mailbox: *renderer.Thread.Mailbox,
 
 /// The mailbox for sending the surface messages.
 surface_mailbox: apprt.surface.Mailbox,
-
-/// The cgroup to apply to the started termio process, if able by
-/// the termio implementation. This only applies to Linux.
-linux_cgroup: Command.LinuxCgroup = Command.linux_cgroup_default,