diff --git a/.changeset/green-flies-draw.md b/.changeset/green-flies-draw.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f8a921677
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/green-flies-draw.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'skuba': patch
+---
+
+template/lambda-sqs-worker: Remove `@aws-sdk/util-utf8-node` library
diff --git a/template/lambda-sqs-worker/package.json b/template/lambda-sqs-worker/package.json
index 7a8be2846..413cb7945 100644
--- a/template/lambda-sqs-worker/package.json
+++ b/template/lambda-sqs-worker/package.json
@@ -17,9 +17,8 @@
     "@aws-sdk/client-codedeploy": "^3.363.0",
     "@aws-sdk/client-lambda": "^3.363.0",
     "@aws-sdk/client-sns": "^3.363.0",
-    "@aws-sdk/util-utf8-node": "^3.259.0",
     "@seek/logger": "^6.0.0",
-    "datadog-lambda-js": "^7.0.0",
+    "datadog-lambda-js": "~7.100.0",
     "dd-trace": "^4.0.0",
     "skuba-dive": "^2.0.0",
     "zod": "^3.19.1"
diff --git a/template/lambda-sqs-worker/src/hooks.ts b/template/lambda-sqs-worker/src/hooks.ts
index a80a361a6..40c95cf2d 100644
--- a/template/lambda-sqs-worker/src/hooks.ts
+++ b/template/lambda-sqs-worker/src/hooks.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import {
   PutLifecycleEventHookExecutionStatusCommand,
 } from '@aws-sdk/client-codedeploy';
 import { InvokeCommand, LambdaClient } from '@aws-sdk/client-lambda';
-import { toUtf8 } from '@aws-sdk/util-utf8-node';
 
 const codeDeploy = new CodeDeployClient({
   apiVersion: '2014-10-06',
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@ const smokeTestLambdaFunction = async (): Promise<Status> => {
   if (response.FunctionError) {
     console.error('Error:', response.FunctionError);
     if (response.Payload) {
-      console.error(toUtf8(response.Payload));
+      console.error(response.Payload.transformToString());
     }
     return 'Failed';
   }