diff --git a/src/Firmware.cs b/src/Firmware.cs
index db8ec66..4ccdb82 100644
--- a/src/Firmware.cs
+++ b/src/Firmware.cs
@@ -393,9 +393,9 @@ class PortPinInfoTypeConverter(IDeserializer deserializer) : IYamlTypeConverter
     public object? ReadYaml(IParser parser, Type type, ObjectDeserializer rootDeserializer)
     {
         var portPin = Deserializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<object, object>>(parser);
-        if (portPin.TryGetValue(DirectionProperty, out object value))
+        if (portPin.TryGetValue(DirectionProperty, out var value))
         {
-            var pinDirection = PascalCaseNamingConvention.Instance.Apply((string)value);
+            var pinDirection = PascalCaseNamingConvention.Instance.Apply(value as string ?? string.Empty);
             Type portPinType = pinDirection switch
             {
                 nameof(PinDirection.Input) => typeof(InputPinInfo),
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ public void WriteYaml(IEmitter emitter, object? value, Type type, ObjectSerializ
             return;
 
         var scalarStyle = ScalarStyle.Any;
-        var scalarValue = LowerCaseNamingConvention.Instance.Apply(value.ToString());
+        var scalarValue = LowerCaseNamingConvention.Instance.Apply(value.ToString() ?? string.Empty);
         if (scalarValue == "off")
             scalarStyle = ScalarStyle.DoubleQuoted;
         emitter.Emit(new Scalar(AnchorName.Empty, TagName.Empty, scalarValue, scalarStyle, true, true));
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ public void WriteYaml(IEmitter emitter, object? value, Type type, ObjectSerializ
         if (value is null)
             return;
 
-        emitter.Emit(new Scalar(CamelCaseNamingConvention.Instance.Apply(value.ToString())));
+        emitter.Emit(new Scalar(CamelCaseNamingConvention.Instance.Apply(value.ToString() ?? string.Empty)));
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/Harp.Generators.csproj b/src/Harp.Generators.csproj
index 18903a9..fbccf11 100644
--- a/src/Harp.Generators.csproj
+++ b/src/Harp.Generators.csproj
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
     <Description>Provides source generators for Harp device firmware and software interface.</Description>
     <PackageTags>$(PackageTags) Device Firmware Interface</PackageTags>
-    <TargetFramework>netstandard2.0</TargetFramework>
+    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <PackageReference Include="Bonsai.Harp" Version="3.5.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="YamlDotNet" Version="16.3.0" />
-    <PackageReference Include="T4.BuildTools" Version="3.0.0" />
+    <PackageReference Include="T4.BuildTools" Version="3.0.0" PrivateAssets="all" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Interface.cs b/src/Interface.cs
index ea01547..f61557d 100644
--- a/src/Interface.cs
+++ b/src/Interface.cs
@@ -561,9 +561,9 @@ static int GetMemberSize(
         out PayloadType payloadType)
     {
         interfaceType = GetInterfaceType(member, register.Type);
-        if (deviceMetadata.GroupMasks.TryGetValue(interfaceType, out GroupMaskInfo groupMask))
+        if (deviceMetadata.GroupMasks.TryGetValue(interfaceType, out var groupMask))
             interfaceType = groupMask.InterfaceType;
-        else if (deviceMetadata.BitMasks.TryGetValue(interfaceType, out BitMaskInfo bitMask))
+        else if (deviceMetadata.BitMasks.TryGetValue(interfaceType, out var bitMask))
             interfaceType = bitMask.InterfaceType;
 
         if (GetInterfaceTypeSize(interfaceType, out payloadType, out int size))
diff --git a/src/TemplateBase.cs b/src/TemplateBase.cs
index aae5471..302d725 100644
--- a/src/TemplateBase.cs
+++ b/src/TemplateBase.cs
@@ -125,9 +125,9 @@ public string ToStringWithCulture(object value)
 
             var method = value.GetType().GetMethod(nameof(ToString), [typeof(IFormatProvider)]);
             if (method is not null)
-                return (string)method.Invoke(value, [formatProvider]);
+                return (string?)method.Invoke(value, [formatProvider]) ?? string.Empty;
 
-            return value.ToString();
+            return value.ToString() ?? string.Empty;
         }
     }
 }