diff --git a/primitives/Cargo.toml b/primitives/Cargo.toml
index d6b1f835c..331c0e81e 100644
--- a/primitives/Cargo.toml
+++ b/primitives/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ jf-utils = { path = "../utilities" }
 rayon = { version = "1.5.0", default-features = false }
 zeroize = { version = "1.3", default-features = false }
 itertools = { version = "0.10.1", default-features = false, features = [ "use_alloc" ] }
-serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
+serde = { version = "1.0", default-features = false, features = ["derive"] }
 generic-array = { version = "^0.14", default-features = false }
 crypto_box = { version = "0.7.1", default-features = false, features = [ "u64_backend", "alloc" ] }
 displaydoc = { version = "0.2.3", default-features = false }
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ digest = { version = "0.10.1", default-features = false }
 espresso-systems-common = { git = "https://github.com/espressosystems/espresso-systems-common", tag = "0.1.1" }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
-rand_chacha = "^0.3"
 bincode = "1.0"
 quickcheck = "1.0.0"
 criterion = "0.3.1"
diff --git a/rescue/Cargo.toml b/rescue/Cargo.toml
index b8c2571ea..3701d78c9 100644
--- a/rescue/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rescue/Cargo.toml
@@ -27,9 +27,8 @@ ark-bw6-761 = { git = "https://github.com/arkworks-rs/curves", rev = "677b4ae751
 jf-utils = { path = "../utilities" }
 
 # others
-rayon = { version = "1.5.0", default-features = false }
 zeroize = { version = "1.3", default-features = false }
-serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
+serde = { version = "1.0", default-features = false, features = ["derive"] }
 generic-array = { version = "^0.14", default-features = false }
 displaydoc = { version = "0.2.3", default-features = false }
 derivative = { version = "2", features = ["use_core"] }
@@ -40,7 +39,6 @@ bincode = "1.0"
 quickcheck = "1.0.0"
 criterion = "0.3.1"
 
-
 [features]
 default = [] # no_std support
 std = []
diff --git a/rescue/src/lib.rs b/rescue/src/lib.rs
index f14c2c456..113e325da 100644
--- a/rescue/src/lib.rs
+++ b/rescue/src/lib.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 // along with the Jellyfish library. If not, see <https://mit-license.org/>.
 
 #![deny(missing_docs)]
+#![cfg_attr(not(feature = "std"), no_std)]
 //! This module implements Rescue hash function over the following fields
 //! - bls12_377 base field
 //! - ed_on_bls12_377 base field
diff --git a/utilities/Cargo.toml b/utilities/Cargo.toml
index 6ae08866e..61711341f 100644
--- a/utilities/Cargo.toml
+++ b/utilities/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ ark-ff = { version = "0.3.0", default-features = false }
 ark-ec = { version = "0.3.0", default-features = false }
 ark-serialize = { version = "0.3.0", default-features = false }
 
-serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
+serde = { version = "1.0", default-features = false, features = ["derive"] }
 anyhow = { version = "^1.0", default-features = false }
 displaydoc = { version = "0.2.3", default-features = false }