diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c4257c2b1..128abf34d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -547,9 +547,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "linux-loader"
-version = "0.5.0"
+version = "0.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "85feaf25cc99be9662ab951bc68a10ae4436dbc9ba931b7fcb4e8fde67d9aa24"
+checksum = "62a2f912deca034ec34b0a43a390059ea98daac40e440ebe8bea88f3315fe168"
 dependencies = [
  "vm-memory",
 ]
diff --git a/arch/Cargo.toml b/arch/Cargo.toml
index 3a762eaf0..3234037d3 100644
--- a/arch/Cargo.toml
+++ b/arch/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ anyhow = "1.0.65"
 byteorder = "1.4.3"
 hypervisor = { path = "../hypervisor" }
 libc = "0.2.133"
-linux-loader = { version = "0.5.0", features = ["elf", "bzimage", "pe"] }
+linux-loader = { version = "0.6.0", features = ["elf", "bzimage", "pe"] }
 log = "0.4.17"
 serde = { version = "1.0.145", features = ["rc", "derive"] }
 thiserror = "1.0.35"
diff --git a/vmm/Cargo.toml b/vmm/Cargo.toml
index d3ce93728..a9fcca0e1 100644
--- a/vmm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/vmm/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ gdbstub = { version = "0.6.3", optional = true }
 gdbstub_arch = { version = "0.2.4", optional = true }
 hypervisor = { path = "../hypervisor" }
 libc = "0.2.133"
-linux-loader = { version = "0.5.0", features = ["elf", "bzimage", "pe"] }
+linux-loader = { version = "0.6.0", features = ["elf", "bzimage", "pe"] }
 log = "0.4.17"
 micro_http = { git = "https://github.com/firecracker-microvm/micro-http", branch = "main" }
 net_util = { path = "../net_util" }
diff --git a/vmm/src/vm.rs b/vmm/src/vm.rs
index a824449b9..294245f69 100644
--- a/vmm/src/vm.rs
+++ b/vmm/src/vm.rs
@@ -1306,7 +1306,7 @@ impl Vm {
 
         arch::configure_system(
             &mem,
-            cmdline.as_str(),
+            cmdline.as_cstring().unwrap().to_str().unwrap(),
             vcpu_mpidrs,
             vcpu_topology,
             device_info,
@@ -1992,8 +1992,11 @@ impl Vm {
                     let cmdline = Self::generate_cmdline(
                         self.config.lock().unwrap().payload.as_ref().unwrap(),
                     )?;
-                    mem.write_slice(cmdline.as_str().as_bytes(), GuestAddress(section.address))
-                        .unwrap();
+                    mem.write_slice(
+                        cmdline.as_cstring().unwrap().as_bytes_with_nul(),
+                        GuestAddress(section.address),
+                    )
+                    .unwrap();
                 }
                 _ => {}
             }