diff --git a/Assistant/Sync.hs b/Assistant/Sync.hs
index c7907d777c..9ec60c25e4 100644
--- a/Assistant/Sync.hs
+++ b/Assistant/Sync.hs
@@ -75,15 +75,15 @@ reconnectRemotes rs = void $ do
 		| Git.repoIsLocal r = True
 		| Git.repoIsLocalUnknown r = True
 		| otherwise = False
-	sync currentbranch@(Just _, _) = do
+	syncbranch currentbranch@(Just _, _) = do
 		(failedpull, diverged) <- manualPull currentbranch =<< gitremotes
 		now <- liftIO getCurrentTime
 		failedpush <- pushToRemotes' now =<< gitremotes
 		return (nub $ failedpull ++ failedpush, diverged)
 	{- No local branch exists yet, but we can try pulling. -}
-	sync (Nothing, _) = manualPull (Nothing, Nothing) =<< gitremotes
+	syncbranch (Nothing, _) = manualPull (Nothing, Nothing) =<< gitremotes
 	go = do
-		(failed, diverged) <- sync =<< liftAnnex getCurrentBranch
+		(failed, diverged) <- syncbranch =<< liftAnnex getCurrentBranch
 		addScanRemotes diverged =<<
 			filterM (not <$$> liftIO . getDynamicConfig . remoteAnnexIgnore . Remote.gitconfig) rs
 		return failed
diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 4c37c3715d..dba3259b00 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ git-annex (10.20230627) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
     Anything still relying on that, eg via cabal v1-install will need to
     change to using make install-home.a
   * git-annex.cabal: Support building with unix-compat 0.7
+  * Support building with unix-2.8.0.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Mon, 26 Jun 2023 13:10:40 -0400
 
diff --git a/Command/RemoteDaemon.hs b/Command/RemoteDaemon.hs
index 114c0afcee..03f5eaaf3d 100644
--- a/Command/RemoteDaemon.hs
+++ b/Command/RemoteDaemon.hs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import RemoteDaemon.Core
 import Utility.Daemon
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 import Annex.Path
+import Utility.OpenFd
 #endif
 
 cmd :: Command
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ run o
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 		git_annex <- liftIO programPath
 		ps <- gitAnnexDaemonizeParams
-		let logfd = openFd "/dev/null" ReadOnly Nothing defaultFileFlags
+		let logfd = openFdWithMode (toRawFilePath "/dev/null") ReadOnly Nothing defaultFileFlags
 		liftIO $ daemonize git_annex ps logfd Nothing False runNonInteractive
 #else
 		liftIO $ foreground Nothing runNonInteractive	
diff --git a/Git/LockFile.hs b/Git/LockFile.hs
index 218a9588cd..fa92df046e 100644
--- a/Git/LockFile.hs
+++ b/Git/LockFile.hs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ module Git.LockFile where
 import Common
 
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
+import Utility.OpenFd
 import System.Posix.Types
 import System.Posix.IO
 #else
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ openLock' :: FilePath -> IO LockHandle
 openLock' lck = do
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 	-- On unix, git simply uses O_EXCL
-	h <- openFd lck ReadWrite (Just 0O666)
+	h <- openFdWithMode (toRawFilePath lck) ReadWrite (Just 0O666)
 		(defaultFileFlags { exclusive = True })
 	setFdOption h CloseOnExec True
 #else
diff --git a/Remote/Directory.hs b/Remote/Directory.hs
index b5f756716c..d234ff59cb 100644
--- a/Remote/Directory.hs
+++ b/Remote/Directory.hs
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ import Utility.InodeCache
 import Utility.FileMode
 import Utility.Directory.Create
 import qualified Utility.RawFilePath as R
+#ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
+import Utility.OpenFd
+#endif
 
 remote :: RemoteType
 remote = specialRemoteType $ RemoteType
@@ -469,7 +472,7 @@ retrieveExportWithContentIdentifierM ii dir cow loc cids dest gk p =
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 		let open = do
 			-- Need a duplicate fd for the post check.
-			fd <- openFd f' ReadOnly Nothing defaultFileFlags
+			fd <- openFdWithMode f ReadOnly Nothing defaultFileFlags
 			dupfd <- dup fd
 			h <- fdToHandle fd
 			return (h, dupfd)
diff --git a/Utility/Daemon.hs b/Utility/Daemon.hs
index 6676ed4e3d..c2a3d1bde7 100644
--- a/Utility/Daemon.hs
+++ b/Utility/Daemon.hs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import Utility.PID
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
 import Utility.LogFile
 import Utility.Env
+import Utility.OpenFd
 #else
 import System.Win32.Process (terminateProcessById)
 import Utility.LockFile
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ daemonize cmd params openlogfd pidfile changedirectory a = do
 			maybe noop lockPidFile pidfile 
 			a
 		_ -> do
-			nullfd <- openFd "/dev/null" ReadOnly Nothing defaultFileFlags
+			nullfd <- openFdWithMode (toRawFilePath "/dev/null") ReadOnly Nothing defaultFileFlags
 			redir nullfd stdInput
 			redirLog =<< openlogfd
 			environ <- getEnvironment
@@ -95,9 +96,9 @@ foreground pidfile a = do
 lockPidFile :: FilePath -> IO ()
 lockPidFile pidfile = do
 #ifndef mingw32_HOST_OS
-	fd <- openFd pidfile ReadWrite (Just stdFileMode) defaultFileFlags
+	fd <- openFdWithMode (toRawFilePath pidfile) ReadWrite (Just stdFileMode) defaultFileFlags
 	locked <- catchMaybeIO $ setLock fd (WriteLock, AbsoluteSeek, 0, 0)
-	fd' <- openFd newfile ReadWrite (Just stdFileMode) defaultFileFlags
+	fd' <- openFdWithMode (toRawFilePath newfile) ReadWrite (Just stdFileMode) defaultFileFlags
 		{ trunc = True }
 	locked' <- catchMaybeIO $ setLock fd' (WriteLock, AbsoluteSeek, 0, 0)
 	case (locked, locked') of
@@ -132,7 +133,7 @@ checkDaemon :: FilePath -> IO (Maybe PID)
 checkDaemon pidfile = bracket setup cleanup go
   where
 	setup = catchMaybeIO $
-		openFd pidfile ReadOnly (Just stdFileMode) defaultFileFlags
+		openFdWithMode (toRawFilePath pidfile) ReadOnly (Just stdFileMode) defaultFileFlags
 	cleanup (Just fd) = closeFd fd
 	cleanup Nothing = return ()
 	go (Just fd) = catchDefaultIO Nothing $ do
diff --git a/Utility/DirWatcher/Kqueue.hs b/Utility/DirWatcher/Kqueue.hs
index 0c84f67c19..dc9fed31c2 100644
--- a/Utility/DirWatcher/Kqueue.hs
+++ b/Utility/DirWatcher/Kqueue.hs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ module Utility.DirWatcher.Kqueue (
 
 import Common
 import Utility.DirWatcher.Types
+import Utility.OpenFd
 
 import System.Posix.Types
 import Foreign.C.Types
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ scanRecursive topdir prune = M.fromList <$> walk [] [topdir]
 				Nothing -> walk c rest
 				Just info -> do
 					mfd <- catchMaybeIO $
-						Posix.openFd dir Posix.ReadOnly Nothing Posix.defaultFileFlags
+						openFdWithMode (toRawFilePath dir) Posix.ReadOnly Nothing Posix.defaultFileFlags
 					case mfd of
 						Nothing -> walk c rest
 						Just fd -> do
diff --git a/Utility/LockFile/PidLock.hs b/Utility/LockFile/PidLock.hs
index c660480187..be4548b0b6 100644
--- a/Utility/LockFile/PidLock.hs
+++ b/Utility/LockFile/PidLock.hs
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import Utility.Directory
 import Utility.Monad
 import Utility.Path.AbsRel
 import Utility.FileMode
+import Utility.OpenFd
 import Utility.LockFile.LockStatus
 import Utility.ThreadScheduler
 import Utility.Hash
@@ -204,7 +205,7 @@ linkToLock (Just _) src dest = do
 				)
 		Left _ -> catchMaybeIO $ do
 			let setup = do
-				fd <- openFd dest WriteOnly
+				fd <- openFdWithMode dest WriteOnly
 					(Just $ combineModes readModes)
 					(defaultFileFlags {exclusive = True})
 				fdToHandle fd
diff --git a/Utility/LockFile/Posix.hs b/Utility/LockFile/Posix.hs
index aaec35e98e..e7d49b81e3 100644
--- a/Utility/LockFile/Posix.hs
+++ b/Utility/LockFile/Posix.hs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import Utility.Exception
 import Utility.Applicative
 import Utility.FileMode
 import Utility.LockFile.LockStatus
+import Utility.OpenFd
 
 import System.IO
 import System.Posix.Types
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ tryLock lockreq mode lockfile = uninterruptibleMask_ $ do
 openLockFile :: LockRequest -> Maybe ModeSetter -> LockFile -> IO Fd
 openLockFile lockreq filemode lockfile = do
 	l <- applyModeSetter filemode lockfile $ \filemode' ->
-		openFd lockfile openfor filemode' defaultFileFlags
+		openFdWithMode lockfile openfor filemode' defaultFileFlags
 	setFdOption l CloseOnExec True
 	return l
   where
diff --git a/Utility/OpenFd.hs b/Utility/OpenFd.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c46e36f25d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Utility/OpenFd.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+{- openFd wrapper to support old versions of unix package.
+ -
+ - Copyright 2023 Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>
+ -
+ - License: BSD-2-clause
+ -}
+
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP #-}
+{-# OPTIONS_GHC -fno-warn-tabs #-}
+
+module Utility.OpenFd (
+	openFdWithMode,
+) where
+
+import System.Posix.IO.ByteString
+import System.Posix.Types
+import System.FilePath.ByteString (RawFilePath)
+
+openFdWithMode :: RawFilePath -> OpenMode -> Maybe FileMode -> OpenFileFlags -> IO Fd
+#if MIN_VERSION_unix(2,8,0)
+openFdWithMode f openmode filemode flags = 
+	openFd f openmode (flags { creat = filemode })
+#else
+openFdWithMode = openFd
+#endif
diff --git a/Utility/Url.hs b/Utility/Url.hs
index 1f237dc0c1..e74ee0a26c 100644
--- a/Utility/Url.hs
+++ b/Utility/Url.hs
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ import Utility.Hash (IncrementalVerifier(..))
 
 import Network.URI
 import Network.HTTP.Types
-import qualified Network.Connection as NC
 import qualified Data.CaseInsensitive as CI
 import qualified Data.ByteString as B
 import qualified Data.ByteString.UTF8 as B8
@@ -745,8 +744,8 @@ curlRestrictedParams r u defport ps = case uriAuthority u of
 		case partitionEithers (map checkrestriction addrs) of
 			((e:_es), []) -> throwIO e
 			(_, as)
-				| null as -> throwIO $ 
-					NC.HostNotResolved hostname
+				| null as -> giveup $ 
+					"cannot resolve host " ++ hostname
 				| otherwise -> return $
 					(limitresolve p) as ++ ps
 	checkrestriction addr = maybe (Right addr) Left $
diff --git a/git-annex.cabal b/git-annex.cabal
index 24b32e4147..5495a06c11 100644
--- a/git-annex.cabal
+++ b/git-annex.cabal
@@ -1132,6 +1132,7 @@ Executable git-annex
     Utility.MoveFile
     Utility.Network
     Utility.NotificationBroadcaster
+    Utility.OpenFd
     Utility.OptParse
     Utility.OSX
     Utility.PID