diff --git a/packages/taikoon/contracts/MerkleWhitelist.sol b/packages/taikoon/contracts/MerkleWhitelist.sol
index 86ac55dbd1..5c50b0759a 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/contracts/MerkleWhitelist.sol
+++ b/packages/taikoon/contracts/MerkleWhitelist.sol
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 pragma solidity 0.8.24;
 
+import { UUPSUpgradeable } from
+    "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/proxy/utils/UUPSUpgradeable.sol";
+import { Ownable2StepUpgradeable } from
+    "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/access/Ownable2StepUpgradeable.sol";
 import { MerkleProof } from "@openzeppelin/contracts/utils/cryptography/MerkleProof.sol";
 import { ContextUpgradeable } from
     "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/utils/ContextUpgradeable.sol";
@@ -8,7 +12,7 @@ import { ContextUpgradeable } from
 /// @title MerkleWhitelist
 /// @dev Merkle Tree Whitelist
 /// @custom:security-contact security@taiko.xyz
-contract MerkleWhitelist is ContextUpgradeable {
+contract MerkleWhitelist is ContextUpgradeable, UUPSUpgradeable, Ownable2StepUpgradeable {
     event RootUpdated(bytes32 _root);
     event MintConsumed(address _minter, uint256 _mintAmount);
 
@@ -30,9 +34,8 @@ contract MerkleWhitelist is ContextUpgradeable {
 
     /// @notice Contract initializer
     /// @param _root Merkle Tree root
-    function initialize(bytes32 _root) external initializer {
-        __Context_init();
-        root = _root;
+    function initialize(address _owner, bytes32 _root) external initializer {
+        __MerkleWhitelist_init(_owner, _root);
     }
 
     /// @notice Check if a wallet can free mint
@@ -54,7 +57,8 @@ contract MerkleWhitelist is ContextUpgradeable {
 
     /// @notice Internal initializer
     /// @param _root Merkle Tree root
-    function __MerkleWhitelist_init(bytes32 _root) internal initializer {
+    function __MerkleWhitelist_init(address _owner, bytes32 _root) internal initializer {
+        _transferOwnership(_owner == address(0) ? msg.sender : _owner);
         __Context_init();
         root = _root;
     }
@@ -76,4 +80,7 @@ contract MerkleWhitelist is ContextUpgradeable {
         minted[_leaf] = true;
         emit MintConsumed(_msgSender(), _maxMints);
     }
+
+    /// @notice Internal method to authorize an upgrade
+    function _authorizeUpgrade(address) internal virtual override onlyOwner { }
 }
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/contracts/TaikoonToken.sol b/packages/taikoon/contracts/TaikoonToken.sol
index 439045c4ed..bde8faa689 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/contracts/TaikoonToken.sol
+++ b/packages/taikoon/contracts/TaikoonToken.sol
@@ -2,24 +2,16 @@
 pragma solidity 0.8.24;
 
 import { Strings } from "@openzeppelin/contracts/utils/Strings.sol";
-import { Ownable2StepUpgradeable } from
-    "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/access/Ownable2StepUpgradeable.sol";
+
 import { ERC721EnumerableUpgradeable } from
     "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/token/ERC721/extensions/ERC721EnumerableUpgradeable.sol";
-import { UUPSUpgradeable } from
-    "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/proxy/utils/UUPSUpgradeable.sol";
 
 import { MerkleWhitelist } from "./MerkleWhitelist.sol";
 
 /// @title TaikoonToken
 /// @dev The Taikoons ERC-721 token
 /// @custom:security-contact security@taiko.xyz
-contract TaikoonToken is
-    ERC721EnumerableUpgradeable,
-    UUPSUpgradeable,
-    Ownable2StepUpgradeable,
-    MerkleWhitelist
-{
+contract TaikoonToken is ERC721EnumerableUpgradeable, MerkleWhitelist {
     /// @notice The current supply
     uint256 private _totalSupply;
     // Base URI required to interact with IPFS
@@ -35,10 +27,16 @@ contract TaikoonToken is
     /// @notice Contract initializer
     /// @param _rootURI Base URI for the token metadata
     /// @param _merkleRoot Merkle tree root for the whitelist
-    function initialize(string memory _rootURI, bytes32 _merkleRoot) external initializer {
+    function initialize(
+        address _owner,
+        string memory _rootURI,
+        bytes32 _merkleRoot
+    )
+        external
+        initializer
+    {
         __ERC721_init("Taikoon", "TKOON");
-        __Ownable_init(_msgSender());
-        __MerkleWhitelist_init(_merkleRoot);
+        __MerkleWhitelist_init(_owner, _merkleRoot);
         _baseURIExtended = _rootURI;
     }
 
@@ -99,9 +97,6 @@ contract TaikoonToken is
         return _baseURIExtended;
     }
 
-    /// @notice Internal method to authorize an upgrade
-    function _authorizeUpgrade(address) internal virtual override onlyOwner { }
-
     /// @notice Internal method to batch mint tokens
     /// @param _to The address to mint to
     /// @param _amount The amount of tokens to mint
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/foundry.toml b/packages/taikoon/foundry.toml
index c20bc4d545..6c524f9f39 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/foundry.toml
+++ b/packages/taikoon/foundry.toml
@@ -16,11 +16,10 @@ remappings = [
   "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/=node_modules/@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable/",
   "@openzeppelin/contracts/=node_modules/@openzeppelin/contracts/",
   "solady/=node_modules/solady/",
-  "forge-std/=node_modules/forge-std/src/",
+  "forge-std/=node_modules/forge-std/",
   "ds-test/=node_modules/ds-test/src/",
   "p256-verifier/=node_modules/p256-verifier/",
   "murky/=node_modules/murky/src/",
-  "@openzeppelin/foundry-upgrades/=node_modules/@openzeppelin/foundry-upgrades/src/",
   "solidity-stringutils/=node_modules/solidity-stringutils/",
 ]
 
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/package.json b/packages/taikoon/package.json
index b324343c68..4b5027832a 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/package.json
+++ b/packages/taikoon/package.json
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@openzeppelin/contracts": "5.0.2",
     "@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable": "5.0.2",
-    "@openzeppelin/foundry-upgrades": "github:OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-foundry-upgrades",
     "@openzeppelin/merkle-tree": "^1.0.6",
     "convert-csv-to-json": "^2.46.0",
     "ds-test": "github:dapphub/ds-test#e282159d5170298eb2455a6c05280ab5a73a4ef0",
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/script/sol/Deploy.s.sol b/packages/taikoon/script/sol/Deploy.s.sol
index 1ed48f580a..d37fa87adc 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/script/sol/Deploy.s.sol
+++ b/packages/taikoon/script/sol/Deploy.s.sol
@@ -2,11 +2,10 @@
 pragma solidity 0.8.24;
 
 import { UtilsScript } from "./Utils.s.sol";
-import { Script, console } from "forge-std/Script.sol";
+import { Script, console } from "forge-std/src/Script.sol";
 import { MerkleMintersScript } from "./MerkleMinters.s.sol";
 import { Merkle } from "murky/Merkle.sol";
-import { Upgrades } from "@openzeppelin/foundry-upgrades/Upgrades.sol";
-
+import { ERC1967Proxy } from "@openzeppelin/contracts/proxy/ERC1967/ERC1967Proxy.sol";
 import { TaikoonToken } from "../../contracts/TaikoonToken.sol";
 
 contract DeployScript is Script {
@@ -16,6 +15,9 @@ contract DeployScript is Script {
     uint256 public deployerPrivateKey;
     address public deployerAddress;
 
+    // Please set owner to labs.taiko.eth (0xB73b0FC4C0Cfc73cF6e034Af6f6b42Ebe6c8b49D) on Mainnnet.
+    address owner = vm.envAddress("OWNER");
+
     function setUp() public {
         utils = new UtilsScript();
         utils.setUp();
@@ -30,6 +32,8 @@ contract DeployScript is Script {
     function run() public {
         string memory jsonRoot = "root";
 
+        require(owner != address(0), "Owner must be specified");
+
         vm.startBroadcast(deployerPrivateKey);
 
         bytes32 root = merkleMinters.root();
@@ -37,8 +41,9 @@ contract DeployScript is Script {
         string memory baseURI = utils.getIpfsBaseURI();
 
         // deploy token with empty root
-        address proxy = Upgrades.deployUUPSProxy(
-            "TaikoonToken.sol", abi.encodeCall(TaikoonToken.initialize, (baseURI, root))
+        address impl = address(new TaikoonToken());
+        address proxy = address(
+            new ERC1967Proxy(impl, abi.encodeCall(TaikoonToken.initialize, (owner, baseURI, root)))
         );
 
         TaikoonToken token = TaikoonToken(proxy);
@@ -47,6 +52,7 @@ contract DeployScript is Script {
         console.log("Deployed TaikoonToken to:", address(token));
 
         vm.serializeBytes32(jsonRoot, "MerkleRoot", root);
+        vm.serializeAddress(jsonRoot, "Owner", token.owner());
 
         string memory finalJson = vm.serializeAddress(jsonRoot, "TaikoonToken", address(token));
         vm.writeJson(finalJson, jsonLocation);
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/script/sol/MerkleMinters.s.sol b/packages/taikoon/script/sol/MerkleMinters.s.sol
index eb88dbc0bb..7e52b81a45 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/script/sol/MerkleMinters.s.sol
+++ b/packages/taikoon/script/sol/MerkleMinters.s.sol
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 pragma solidity 0.8.24;
 
-import { Script, console } from "forge-std/Script.sol";
-import "forge-std/StdJson.sol";
+import { Script, console } from "forge-std/src/Script.sol";
+import "forge-std/src/StdJson.sol";
 import { UtilsScript } from "./Utils.s.sol";
 import { Merkle } from "murky/Merkle.sol";
 import "./CsvParser.sol";
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/script/sol/Utils.s.sol b/packages/taikoon/script/sol/Utils.s.sol
index dd9b033837..753e02b384 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/script/sol/Utils.s.sol
+++ b/packages/taikoon/script/sol/Utils.s.sol
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 pragma solidity 0.8.24;
 
-import { Script, console } from "forge-std/Script.sol";
-import "forge-std/StdJson.sol";
+import { Script, console } from "forge-std/src/Script.sol";
+import "forge-std/src/StdJson.sol";
 
 contract UtilsScript is Script {
     using stdJson for string;
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/test/MerkleWhitelist.t.sol b/packages/taikoon/test/MerkleWhitelist.t.sol
index 01c2db0a78..60232521a8 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/test/MerkleWhitelist.t.sol
+++ b/packages/taikoon/test/MerkleWhitelist.t.sol
@@ -1,13 +1,22 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 pragma solidity 0.8.24;
 
-import { Test, console } from "forge-std/Test.sol";
-import "forge-std/StdJson.sol";
+import { Test, console } from "forge-std/src/Test.sol";
+import "forge-std/src/StdJson.sol";
 import { Merkle } from "murky/Merkle.sol";
 import { MerkleWhitelist } from "../contracts/MerkleWhitelist.sol";
-import { Upgrades } from "@openzeppelin/foundry-upgrades/Upgrades.sol";
+import { ERC1967Proxy } from "@openzeppelin/contracts/proxy/ERC1967/ERC1967Proxy.sol";
 
-import { MerkleWhitelistTestWrapper } from "./MerkleWhitelistTestWrapper.sol";
+/// @custom:oz-upgrades-from MerkleWhitelist
+contract MerkleWhitelistForTest is MerkleWhitelist {
+    function updateRoot(bytes32 _root) external {
+        _updateRoot(_root);
+    }
+
+    function consumeMint(bytes32[] calldata _proof, uint256 _freeMints) external {
+        _consumeMint(_proof, _freeMints);
+    }
+}
 
 contract MerkleWhitelistTest is Test {
     Merkle tree;
@@ -18,7 +27,7 @@ contract MerkleWhitelistTest is Test {
 
     address public owner = vm.addr(0x5);
 
-    MerkleWhitelistTestWrapper whitelist;
+    MerkleWhitelistForTest whitelist;
 
     uint256 constant MAX_MINTS = 5;
 
@@ -40,13 +49,12 @@ contract MerkleWhitelistTest is Test {
 
         bytes32 root = tree.getRoot(leaves);
 
-        address transparentProxy = Upgrades.deployTransparentProxy(
-            "MerkleWhitelist.sol", owner, abi.encodeCall(MerkleWhitelist.initialize, (root))
+        address impl = address(new MerkleWhitelistForTest());
+        address proxy = address(
+            new ERC1967Proxy(impl, abi.encodeCall(MerkleWhitelist.initialize, (address(0), root)))
         );
 
-        Upgrades.upgradeProxy(transparentProxy, "MerkleWhitelistTestWrapper.sol", "");
-
-        whitelist = MerkleWhitelistTestWrapper(transparentProxy);
+        whitelist = MerkleWhitelistForTest(proxy);
 
         vm.stopBroadcast();
     }
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/test/TaikoonToken.t.sol b/packages/taikoon/test/TaikoonToken.t.sol
index 16d3a8c6b5..5dadd1c422 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/test/TaikoonToken.t.sol
+++ b/packages/taikoon/test/TaikoonToken.t.sol
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 pragma solidity 0.8.24;
 
-import { Test } from "forge-std/Test.sol";
+import { Test } from "forge-std/src/Test.sol";
+
 import { TaikoonToken } from "../contracts/TaikoonToken.sol";
 import { Merkle } from "murky/Merkle.sol";
-import { Upgrades } from "@openzeppelin/foundry-upgrades/Upgrades.sol";
+import { ERC1967Proxy } from "@openzeppelin/contracts/proxy/ERC1967/ERC1967Proxy.sol";
 
 contract TaikoonTokenTest is Test {
     TaikoonToken public token;
@@ -24,8 +25,11 @@ contract TaikoonTokenTest is Test {
         bytes32 root = tree.getRoot(leaves);
 
         // deploy token with empty root
-        address proxy = Upgrades.deployUUPSProxy(
-            "TaikoonToken.sol", abi.encodeCall(TaikoonToken.initialize, ("ipfs://", root))
+        address impl = address(new TaikoonToken());
+        address proxy = address(
+            new ERC1967Proxy(
+                impl, abi.encodeCall(TaikoonToken.initialize, (address(0), "ipfs://", root))
+            )
         );
 
         token = TaikoonToken(proxy);
diff --git a/packages/taikoon/test/Upgradeable.t.sol b/packages/taikoon/test/Upgradeable.t.sol
index ceefe3fc95..0f2b42d87c 100644
--- a/packages/taikoon/test/Upgradeable.t.sol
+++ b/packages/taikoon/test/Upgradeable.t.sol
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 pragma solidity 0.8.24;
 
-import { Test, console } from "forge-std/Test.sol";
+import { Test, console } from "forge-std/src/Test.sol";
 import { TaikoonToken } from "../contracts/TaikoonToken.sol";
 import { Merkle } from "murky/Merkle.sol";
 import { MerkleMintersScript } from "../script/sol/MerkleMinters.s.sol";
-import "forge-std/StdJson.sol";
+import "forge-std/src/StdJson.sol";
 
-import { Upgrades } from "@openzeppelin/foundry-upgrades/Upgrades.sol";
+import { ERC1967Proxy } from "@openzeppelin/contracts/proxy/ERC1967/ERC1967Proxy.sol";
 
 contract UpgradeableTest is Test {
     using stdJson for string;
@@ -31,8 +31,11 @@ contract UpgradeableTest is Test {
         bytes32 root = tree.getRoot(leaves);
 
         // deploy token with empty root
-        address proxy = Upgrades.deployUUPSProxy(
-            "TaikoonToken.sol", abi.encodeCall(TaikoonToken.initialize, ("ipfs://", root))
+        address impl = address(new TaikoonToken());
+        address proxy = address(
+            new ERC1967Proxy(
+                impl, abi.encodeCall(TaikoonToken.initialize, (address(0), "ipfs://", root))
+            )
         );
 
         token = TaikoonToken(proxy);
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 67ebe5b64b..38edc14405 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -417,9 +417,6 @@ importers:
       '@openzeppelin/contracts-upgradeable':
         specifier: 5.0.2
         version: 5.0.2(@openzeppelin/contracts@5.0.2)
-      '@openzeppelin/foundry-upgrades':
-        specifier: github:OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-foundry-upgrades
-        version: github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-foundry-upgrades/332bd3306242e09520df2685b2edb99ebd7f5d37
       '@openzeppelin/merkle-tree':
         specifier: ^1.0.6
         version: 1.0.6
@@ -431,7 +428,7 @@ importers:
         version: github.com/dapphub/ds-test/e282159d5170298eb2455a6c05280ab5a73a4ef0
       forge-std:
         specifier: github:foundry-rs/forge-std
-        version: github.com/foundry-rs/forge-std/93340e7e6127c817e276bc956b4f4ed13d173449
+        version: github.com/foundry-rs/forge-std/5475f852e3f530d7e25dfb4596aa1f9baa8ffdfc
       ipfs-http-client:
         specifier: ^60.0.1
         version: 60.0.1
@@ -6301,9 +6298,6 @@ packages:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-GBryCiyl+taz5DPq0expxzfMVcrpKjWvEBSAqT1tPUSthnzOWnVF77XlUAYgFZqzPsEu9lQ1dHCdqZx7WWMCXA==}
     peerDependencies:
       '@web3modal/wallet': 4.1.1
-    peerDependenciesMeta:
-      '@web3modal/siwe':
-        optional: true
     dependencies:
       '@web3modal/common': 4.1.1
       '@web3modal/core': 4.1.1(react@18.2.0)
@@ -6344,15 +6338,6 @@ packages:
       '@wagmi/connectors': '>=4.0.0'
       '@wagmi/core': '>=2.0.0'
       viem: '>=2.0.0'
-    peerDependenciesMeta:
-      '@web3modal/siwe':
-        optional: true
-      react:
-        optional: true
-      react-dom:
-        optional: true
-      vue:
-        optional: true
     dependencies:
       '@wagmi/connectors': 4.1.18(@wagmi/core@2.6.9)(react-dom@18.2.0)(react-native@0.73.4)(react@18.2.0)(typescript@5.4.3)(viem@2.7.11)
       '@wagmi/core': 2.6.9(react@18.2.0)(typescript@5.4.3)(viem@2.7.11)
@@ -8428,7 +8413,7 @@ packages:
       eslint: 8.55.0
       eslint-import-resolver-node: 0.3.9
       eslint-module-utils: 2.8.0(@typescript-eslint/parser@7.7.0)(eslint-import-resolver-node@0.3.9)(eslint@8.55.0)
-      hasown: 2.0.0
+      hasown: 2.0.1
       is-core-module: 2.13.1
       is-glob: 4.0.3
       minimatch: 3.1.2
@@ -8527,7 +8512,7 @@ packages:
       eslint: 8.55.0
       eslint-plugin-es: 3.0.1(eslint@8.55.0)
       eslint-utils: 2.1.0
-      ignore: 5.3.0
+      ignore: 5.3.1
       minimatch: 3.1.2
       resolve: 1.22.8
       semver: 6.3.1
@@ -9573,13 +9558,6 @@ packages:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-0cMsjjIC8I+D3M44pOQdsy0OHXGLVz6Z0beRuufhKa0KfaD2wGwAev6jILzXsd3/vpnNQJmWyZtIILqM1N+n5A==}
     dev: false
 
-  /hasown@2.0.0:
-    resolution: {integrity: sha512-vUptKVTpIJhcczKBbgnS+RtcuYMB8+oNzPK2/Hp3hanz8JmpATdmmgLgSaadVREkDm+e2giHwY3ZRkyjSIDDFA==}
-    engines: {node: '>= 0.4'}
-    dependencies:
-      function-bind: 1.1.2
-    dev: true
-
   /hasown@2.0.1:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-1/th4MHjnwncwXsIW6QMzlvYL9kG5e/CpVvLRZe4XPa8TOUNbCELqmvhDmnkNsAjwaG4+I8gJJL0JBvTTLO9qA==}
     engines: {node: '>= 0.4'}
@@ -15514,12 +15492,6 @@ packages:
     version: 0.0.0
     dev: false
 
-  github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-foundry-upgrades/332bd3306242e09520df2685b2edb99ebd7f5d37:
-    resolution: {tarball: https://codeload.github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-foundry-upgrades/tar.gz/332bd3306242e09520df2685b2edb99ebd7f5d37}
-    name: openzeppelin-foundry-upgrades
-    version: 0.0.0
-    dev: false
-
   github.com/Vectorized/solady/de0f336d2033d04e0f77c923d639c7fbffd48b6d:
     resolution: {tarball: https://codeload.github.com/Vectorized/solady/tar.gz/de0f336d2033d04e0f77c923d639c7fbffd48b6d}
     name: solady
@@ -15544,8 +15516,8 @@ packages:
     version: 1.7.5
     dev: false
 
-  github.com/foundry-rs/forge-std/93340e7e6127c817e276bc956b4f4ed13d173449:
-    resolution: {tarball: https://codeload.github.com/foundry-rs/forge-std/tar.gz/93340e7e6127c817e276bc956b4f4ed13d173449}
+  github.com/foundry-rs/forge-std/5475f852e3f530d7e25dfb4596aa1f9baa8ffdfc:
+    resolution: {tarball: https://codeload.github.com/foundry-rs/forge-std/tar.gz/5475f852e3f530d7e25dfb4596aa1f9baa8ffdfc}
     name: forge-std
     version: 1.7.6
     dev: false