diff --git a/ci/release/changelogs/next.md b/ci/release/changelogs/next.md
index 2a3b66356..4c6e6f979 100644
--- a/ci/release/changelogs/next.md
+++ b/ci/release/changelogs/next.md
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
   So you can run `go install oss.terrastruct.com/d2@latest` to install from source
   now.
   [#290](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/pull/290)
+- `BROWSER=0` now works to disable opening a browser on `--watch`.
+  [#311](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/pull/311)
 
 #### Bugfixes 🔴
 
@@ -42,3 +44,6 @@
   [#224](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/pull/224)
 - Avoid logging benign file watching errors.
   [#293](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/pull/293)
+- `$BROWSER` now works to open a custom browser correctly.
+  For example, to open Firefox on macOS: `BROWSER='open -aFirefox'`
+  [#311](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/pull/311)
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 14cfc5097..93c3ab7dc 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/golang/freetype v0.0.0-20170609003504-e2365dfdc4a0
 	github.com/lucasb-eyer/go-colorful v1.2.0
 	github.com/mazznoer/csscolorparser v0.1.3
-	github.com/pkg/browser v0.0.0-20210911075715-681adbf594b8
 	github.com/playwright-community/playwright-go v0.2000.1
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ require (
 	nhooyr.io/websocket v1.8.7
 	oss.terrastruct.com/cmdlog v0.0.0-20221201100934-012c01b3431c
 	oss.terrastruct.com/diff v1.0.2-0.20221116222035-8bf4dd3ab541
-	oss.terrastruct.com/util-go v0.0.0-20221201184644-70a234206a9a
+	oss.terrastruct.com/util-go v0.0.0-20221201185848-8cc30ca56bbe
 	oss.terrastruct.com/xcontext v0.0.0-20221018000442-50fdafb12f4f
 	oss.terrastruct.com/xdefer v0.0.0-20221017222355-6f3b6e4d1557
 	oss.terrastruct.com/xjson v0.0.0-20221018000420-4986731c4c4a
@@ -50,6 +49,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16 // indirect
 	github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd // indirect
+	github.com/pkg/browser v0.0.0-20210911075715-681adbf594b8 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.8.0 // indirect
 	github.com/ugorji/go/codec v1.2.6 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 3462d23b8..dc98e6487 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -802,8 +802,8 @@ oss.terrastruct.com/cmdlog v0.0.0-20221201100934-012c01b3431c h1:C1DDLzj2NrVi1YJ
 oss.terrastruct.com/cmdlog v0.0.0-20221201100934-012c01b3431c/go.mod h1:C8u/lYTvQWc1xC7rHpgFfpScfQC4NMeGGMmlKVZZUXM=
 oss.terrastruct.com/diff v1.0.2-0.20221116222035-8bf4dd3ab541 h1:I9B1O1IJ6spivIQxbFRZmbhAwVeLwrcQRR1JbYUOvrI=
 oss.terrastruct.com/diff v1.0.2-0.20221116222035-8bf4dd3ab541/go.mod h1:ags2QDy/T6jr69hT6bpmAmhr2H98n9o8Atf3QlUJPiU=
-oss.terrastruct.com/util-go v0.0.0-20221201184644-70a234206a9a h1:4+7aYDQhnJa+lM0VpQ9xn4EsyBc5T09ry7d2YXnVekM=
-oss.terrastruct.com/util-go v0.0.0-20221201184644-70a234206a9a/go.mod h1:l3FJb1Ne4egFfJRbdLJAk4hLZ61nr9kMm0thv2+SvCw=
+oss.terrastruct.com/util-go v0.0.0-20221201185848-8cc30ca56bbe h1:1CTXmBqea1vbVhYsyZ3NiCYUFZgURIQF/ItjrdlhwlE=
+oss.terrastruct.com/util-go v0.0.0-20221201185848-8cc30ca56bbe/go.mod h1:bL3CBn27CtTm++1iqRh2p6f8AIWeTdtlTN199Kg9JYM=
 oss.terrastruct.com/xcontext v0.0.0-20221018000442-50fdafb12f4f h1:7voRCwKM7TZkTo9u7hj+uV/zXoVB8czWrTq6MVIh3dg=
 oss.terrastruct.com/xcontext v0.0.0-20221018000442-50fdafb12f4f/go.mod h1:Y0coTLsWwX0q3a+/Ndq797t+vWyxm42T49Ik3bzaDKY=
 oss.terrastruct.com/xdefer v0.0.0-20221017222355-6f3b6e4d1557 h1:rPbhJbN1q7B4tnppSPoAMwq0t6Pk5SrQDQ5S6uoNNHg=
diff --git a/lib/xbrowser/xbrowser.go b/lib/xbrowser/xbrowser.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e7341f61..000000000
--- a/lib/xbrowser/xbrowser.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,25 +0,0 @@
-package xbrowser
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"fmt"
-	"os/exec"
-
-	"github.com/pkg/browser"
-
-	"oss.terrastruct.com/xos"
-)
-
-func OpenURL(ctx context.Context, env *xos.Env, url string) error {
-	browserEnv := env.Getenv("BROWSER")
-	if browserEnv != "" {
-		browserSh := fmt.Sprintf("%s '$1'", browserEnv)
-		cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "sh", "-c", browserSh, "--", url)
-		out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to run %v (out: %q): %w", cmd.Args, out, err)
-		}
-		return nil
-	}
-	return browser.OpenURL(url)
-}
diff --git a/watch.go b/watch.go
index 97a5fe521..ca928c026 100644
--- a/watch.go
+++ b/watch.go
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ import (
 	"nhooyr.io/websocket"
 	"nhooyr.io/websocket/wsjson"
 
+	"oss.terrastruct.com/util-go/xbrowser"
+
 	"oss.terrastruct.com/d2/d2plugin"
 	"oss.terrastruct.com/d2/lib/png"
-	"oss.terrastruct.com/d2/lib/xbrowser"
 	"oss.terrastruct.com/d2/lib/xhttp"
 	"oss.terrastruct.com/d2/lib/xmain"
 )
@@ -372,7 +373,7 @@ func (w *watcher) compileLoop(ctx context.Context) error {
 		if firstCompile {
 			firstCompile = false
 			url := fmt.Sprintf("http://%s", w.l.Addr())
-			err = xbrowser.OpenURL(ctx, w.ms.Env, url)
+			err = xbrowser.Open(ctx, w.ms.Env, url)
 			if err != nil {
 				w.ms.Log.Warn.Printf("failed to open browser to %v: %v", url, err)
 			}