diff --git a/service_manager/src/lib.rs b/service_manager/src/lib.rs
index a4774dd..b44f0b2 100644
--- a/service_manager/src/lib.rs
+++ b/service_manager/src/lib.rs
@@ -122,6 +122,14 @@ pub fn create_service_manager() -> Result<Box<dyn ServiceManager>, ServiceManage
     }
     #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
     {
+        // TEMPORARY: Force systemd for testing due to zinit protocol issues
+        log::warn!(
+            "Temporarily using systemd instead of zinit due to protocol compatibility issues"
+        );
+        Ok(Box::new(SystemdServiceManager::new()))
+
+        // TODO: Re-enable zinit once protocol issues are resolved
+        /*
         // Try zinit first (preferred), with multiple socket paths, fall back to systemd if all fail
         let socket_paths = ["/run/zinit.sock", "/tmp/zinit.sock", "/var/run/zinit.sock"];
 
@@ -142,6 +150,7 @@ pub fn create_service_manager() -> Result<Box<dyn ServiceManager>, ServiceManage
         log::warn!("All zinit sockets failed, falling back to systemd");
         // Fallback to systemd if all zinit attempts fail
         Ok(Box::new(SystemdServiceManager::new()))
+        */
     }
     #[cfg(not(any(target_os = "macos", target_os = "linux")))]
     {