diff --git a/cmd/gazelle/fix-update.go b/cmd/gazelle/fix-update.go
index 67c1090b2..fe8fee57f 100644
--- a/cmd/gazelle/fix-update.go
+++ b/cmd/gazelle/fix-update.go
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -493,7 +492,7 @@ func runFixUpdate(wd string, cmd command, args []string) (err error) {
 		}
 	}
 	if uc.patchPath != "" {
-		if err := ioutil.WriteFile(uc.patchPath, uc.patchBuffer.Bytes(), 0o666); err != nil {
+		if err := os.WriteFile(uc.patchPath, uc.patchBuffer.Bytes(), 0o666); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
@@ -676,12 +675,12 @@ func findOutputPath(c *config.Config, f *rule.File) string {
 	}
 	outputDir := filepath.Join(baseDir, filepath.FromSlash(f.Pkg))
 	defaultOutputPath := filepath.Join(outputDir, c.DefaultBuildFileName())
-	files, err := ioutil.ReadDir(outputDir)
+	ents, err := os.ReadDir(outputDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Ignore error. Directory probably doesn't exist.
 		return defaultOutputPath
 	}
-	outputPath := rule.MatchBuildFileName(outputDir, c.ValidBuildFileNames, files)
+	outputPath := rule.MatchBuildFile(outputDir, c.ValidBuildFileNames, ents)
 	if outputPath == "" {
 		return defaultOutputPath
 	}
diff --git a/language/go/config.go b/language/go/config.go
index 96295c143..e23ed5437 100644
--- a/language/go/config.go
+++ b/language/go/config.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"go/build"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path"
@@ -726,7 +725,7 @@ Update io_bazel_rules_go to a newer version in your WORKSPACE file.`
 		// Bazel has already fetched io_bazel_rules_go. We can read its version
 		// from //go:def.bzl.
 		defBzlPath := filepath.Join(rulesGoPath, "go", "def.bzl")
-		defBzlContent, err := ioutil.ReadFile(defBzlPath)
+		defBzlContent, err := os.ReadFile(defBzlPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
@@ -799,7 +798,7 @@ func detectNamingConvention(c *config.Config, rootFile *rule.File) namingConvent
 		var f *rule.File
 		for _, name := range c.ValidBuildFileNames {
 			fpath := filepath.Join(dir, name)
-			data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(fpath)
+			data, err := os.ReadFile(fpath)
 			if err != nil {
 				continue
 			}
@@ -821,15 +820,15 @@ func detectNamingConvention(c *config.Config, rootFile *rule.File) namingConvent
 		}
 	}
 
-	infos, err := ioutil.ReadDir(c.RepoRoot)
+	ents, err := os.ReadDir(c.RepoRoot)
 	if err != nil {
 		return importNamingConvention
 	}
-	for _, info := range infos {
-		if !info.IsDir() {
+	for _, ent := range ents {
+		if !ent.IsDir() {
 			continue
 		}
-		dirName := info.Name()
+		dirName := ent.Name()
 		dirNC := detectInDir(filepath.Join(c.RepoRoot, dirName), dirName)
 		if dirNC == unknownNamingConvention {
 			continue
diff --git a/rule/rule.go b/rule/rule.go
index de92c0119..4b22c917c 100644
--- a/rule/rule.go
+++ b/rule/rule.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ package rule
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"io/ioutil"
+	"io/fs"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func EmptyFile(path, pkg string) *File {
 // This function returns I/O and parse errors without modification. It's safe
 // to use os.IsNotExist and similar predicates.
 func LoadFile(path, pkg string) (*File, error) {
-	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func LoadFile(path, pkg string) (*File, error) {
 // LoadWorkspaceFile is similar to LoadFile but parses the file as a WORKSPACE
 // file.
 func LoadWorkspaceFile(path, pkg string) (*File, error) {
-	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func LoadWorkspaceFile(path, pkg string) (*File, error) {
 // The function's syntax tree will be returned within File and can be modified by
 // Sync and Save calls.
 func LoadMacroFile(path, pkg, defName string) (*File, error) {
-	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -253,10 +253,22 @@ func scanExprs(defName string, stmt []bzl.Expr) (rules []*Rule, loads []*Load, f
 	return rules, loads, fn
 }
 
-// MatchBuildFileName looks for a file in files that has a name from names.
+// MatchBuildFile looks for a file in files that has a name from names.
 // If there is at least one matching file, a path will be returned by joining
 // dir and the first matching name. If there are no matching files, the
 // empty string is returned.
+func MatchBuildFile(dir string, names []string, ents []fs.DirEntry) string {
+	for _, name := range names {
+		for _, ent := range ents {
+			if ent.Name() == name && !ent.IsDir() {
+				return filepath.Join(dir, name)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// Deprecated: Prefer MatchBuildFile, it's more efficient to fetch a []fs.DirEntry
 func MatchBuildFileName(dir string, names []string, files []os.FileInfo) string {
 	for _, name := range names {
 		for _, fi := range files {
@@ -412,7 +424,7 @@ func (f *File) SortMacro() {
 func (f *File) Save(path string) error {
 	f.Sync()
 	f.Content = bzl.Format(f.File)
-	return ioutil.WriteFile(path, f.Content, 0o666)
+	return os.WriteFile(path, f.Content, 0o666)
 }
 
 // HasDefaultVisibility returns whether the File contains a "package" rule with
@@ -757,17 +769,19 @@ func NewRule(kind, name string) *Rule {
 // is either `*bzl.DotExpr` or `*bzl.Ident`.
 //
 // For `myKind` kind it returns:
-//  &bzl.Ident{
-//      Name: "myKind"
-//  }
+//
+//	&bzl.Ident{
+//	    Name: "myKind"
+//	}
 //
 // For `myKind.inner` kind it returns:
-//  &bzl.DotExpr{
-//      Name: "inner",
-//      X: &bzl.Ident {
-//          Name: "myKind"
-//      }
-//  }
+//
+//	&bzl.DotExpr{
+//	    Name: "inner",
+//	    X: &bzl.Ident {
+//	        Name: "myKind"
+//	    }
+//	}
 func createDotExpr(kind string) bzl.Expr {
 	var expr bzl.Expr
 	parts := strings.Split(kind, ".")
diff --git a/walk/walk.go b/walk/walk.go
index 8413e8c57..7128d4684 100644
--- a/walk/walk.go
+++ b/walk/walk.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package walk
 
 import (
 	"io/fs"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path"
@@ -125,13 +124,13 @@ func Walk(c *config.Config, cexts []config.Configurer, dirs []string, mode Mode,
 		// TODO: OPT: ReadDir stats all the files, which is slow. We just care about
 		// names and modes, so we should use something like
 		// golang.org/x/tools/internal/fastwalk to speed this up.
-		files, err := ioutil.ReadDir(dir)
+		ents, err := os.ReadDir(dir)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Print(err)
 			return
 		}
 
-		f, err := loadBuildFile(c, rel, dir, files)
+		f, err := loadBuildFile(c, rel, dir, ents)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Print(err)
 			if c.Strict {
@@ -150,13 +149,13 @@ func Walk(c *config.Config, cexts []config.Configurer, dirs []string, mode Mode,
 		}
 
 		var subdirs, regularFiles []string
-		for _, fi := range files {
-			base := fi.Name()
-			fi := resolveFileInfo(wc, dir, rel, fi)
+		for _, ent := range ents {
+			base := ent.Name()
+			ent := resolveFileInfo(wc, dir, rel, ent)
 			switch {
-			case fi == nil:
+			case ent == nil:
 				continue
-			case fi.IsDir():
+			case ent.IsDir():
 				subdirs = append(subdirs, base)
 			default:
 				regularFiles = append(regularFiles, base)
@@ -251,18 +250,18 @@ func shouldVisit(rel string, mode Mode, updateParent bool, updateRels map[string
 	}
 }
 
-func loadBuildFile(c *config.Config, pkg, dir string, files []os.FileInfo) (*rule.File, error) {
+func loadBuildFile(c *config.Config, pkg, dir string, ents []fs.DirEntry) (*rule.File, error) {
 	var err error
 	readDir := dir
-	readFiles := files
+	readEnts := ents
 	if c.ReadBuildFilesDir != "" {
 		readDir = filepath.Join(c.ReadBuildFilesDir, filepath.FromSlash(pkg))
-		readFiles, err = ioutil.ReadDir(readDir)
+		readEnts, err = os.ReadDir(readDir)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
-	path := rule.MatchBuildFileName(readDir, c.ValidBuildFileNames, readFiles)
+	path := rule.MatchBuildFile(readDir, c.ValidBuildFileNames, readEnts)
 	if path == "" {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
@@ -315,16 +314,16 @@ func findGenFiles(wc *walkConfig, f *rule.File) []string {
 	return genFiles
 }
 
-func resolveFileInfo(wc *walkConfig, dir, rel string, fi fs.FileInfo) fs.FileInfo {
-	base := fi.Name()
+func resolveFileInfo(wc *walkConfig, dir, rel string, ent fs.DirEntry) fs.DirEntry {
+	base := ent.Name()
 	if base == "" || wc.isExcluded(rel, base) {
 		return nil
 	}
-	if fi.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink == 0 {
+	if ent.Type()&os.ModeSymlink == 0 {
 		// Not a symlink, use the original FileInfo.
-		return fi
+		return ent
 	}
-	if !wc.shouldFollow(rel, fi.Name()) {
+	if !wc.shouldFollow(rel, ent.Name()) {
 		// A symlink, but not one we should follow.
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -333,5 +332,5 @@ func resolveFileInfo(wc *walkConfig, dir, rel string, fi fs.FileInfo) fs.FileInf
 		// A symlink, but not one we could resolve.
 		return nil
 	}
-	return fi
+	return fs.FileInfoToDirEntry(fi)
 }