diff --git a/detail.go b/detail.go
index a310d5c..7f922e4 100644
--- a/detail.go
+++ b/detail.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package sqlread
 
 import (
 	"errors"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 type InsertDetailParser struct {
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ func stringValue(c LexItem) (string, error) {
 	d := v[0]
 	m := len(v) - 2
 
-	s := ""
+	var s strings.Builder
 	i := 0
 	for {
 		i++
@@ -125,22 +126,22 @@ func stringValue(c LexItem) (string, error) {
 			}
 
 			i++
-			s += string(x)
+			s.WriteString(string(x))
 			continue
 		}
 
 		if v[i] == d {
 			if i+1 < m && v[i+1] == d {
 				i++
-				s += string(d)
+				s.WriteString(string(d))
 				continue
 			} else {
 				return "", errorInvalidString
 			}
 		}
 
-		s += string(v[i])
+		s.WriteString(string(v[i]))
 	}
 
-	return s, nil
+	return s.String(), nil
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 510a138..740e6f8 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/donatj/sqlread
 
-go 1.24
-
-toolchain go1.24.4
+go 1.26
 
 require (
 	github.com/avvmoto/buf-readerat v0.0.0-20171115124131-a17c8cb89270
diff --git a/parser.go b/parser.go
index 2a62ccd..0bbacb0 100644
--- a/parser.go
+++ b/parser.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package sqlread
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"slices"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // Parser is a state based SQL Parser that reads LexItems on a channel
@@ -47,12 +48,12 @@ func (p *Parser) Run(start parseState) error {
 }
 
 func (p *Parser) errorUnexpectedLex(f LexItem, e ...lexItemType) {
-	s := ""
+	var s strings.Builder
 	for _, ei := range e {
-		s += "'" + ei.String() + "' "
+		s.WriteString("'" + ei.String() + "' ")
 	}
 
-	p.err = fmt.Errorf("found '%s'; expected %s at byte: %d", f.Type.String(), s, f.Pos)
+	p.err = fmt.Errorf("found '%s'; expected %s at byte: %d", f.Type.String(), s.String(), f.Pos)
 }
 
 func (p *Parser) errorUnexpectedEOF() {
@@ -63,12 +64,12 @@ func (p *Parser) errorUnexpectedEOF() {
 // It includes the last position scanned to help with debugging
 // lastPos is the position of the last valid scanned item
 func (p *Parser) errorUnexpectedEOFExpectedLexItemType(lastPos int64, e ...lexItemType) {
-	s := ""
+	var s strings.Builder
 	for _, ei := range e {
-		s += "'" + ei.String() + "' "
+		s.WriteString("'" + ei.String() + "' ")
 	}
 
-	p.err = fmt.Errorf("unexpected eof; expected %s starting at byte: %d", s, lastPos+1)
+	p.err = fmt.Errorf("unexpected eof; expected %s starting at byte: %d", s.String(), lastPos+1)
 }
 
 func isOfAny(c LexItem, l ...lexItemType) bool {
diff --git a/scanner.go b/scanner.go
index 017eadf..cb416c5 100644
--- a/scanner.go
+++ b/scanner.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package sqlread
 
 import (
 	"io"
+	"slices"
 	"strings"
 	"unicode/utf8"
 )
@@ -158,13 +159,7 @@ func (l *lexer) accept(bs []byte) (c int) {
 	for {
 		n := l.next()
 
-		found := false
-		for _, b := range bs {
-			if b == n {
-				found = true
-				break
-			}
-		}
+		found := slices.Contains(bs, n)
 
 		if !found {
 			l.rewind()
@@ -281,11 +276,5 @@ func (l *lexer) emit(t lexItemType) LexItem {
 }
 
 func in(b byte, bs []byte) bool {
-	for _, bb := range bs {
-		if b == bb {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-
-	return false
+	return slices.Contains(bs, b)
 }