diff --git a/common/i2c.py b/common/i2c.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1dfaa659a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/i2c.py
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+import os
+import fcntl
+import ctypes
+
+# I2C constants from /usr/include/linux/i2c-dev.h
+I2C_SLAVE = 0x0703
+I2C_SLAVE_FORCE = 0x0706
+I2C_SMBUS = 0x0720
+
+# SMBus transfer types
+I2C_SMBUS_READ = 1
+I2C_SMBUS_WRITE = 0
+I2C_SMBUS_BYTE_DATA = 2
+I2C_SMBUS_I2C_BLOCK_DATA = 8
+
+I2C_SMBUS_BLOCK_MAX = 32
+
+
+class _I2cSmbusData(ctypes.Union):
+  _fields_ = [
+    ("byte", ctypes.c_uint8),
+    ("word", ctypes.c_uint16),
+    ("block", ctypes.c_uint8 * (I2C_SMBUS_BLOCK_MAX + 2)),
+  ]
+
+
+class _I2cSmbusIoctlData(ctypes.Structure):
+  _fields_ = [
+    ("read_write", ctypes.c_uint8),
+    ("command", ctypes.c_uint8),
+    ("size", ctypes.c_uint32),
+    ("data", ctypes.POINTER(_I2cSmbusData)),
+  ]
+
+
+class SMBus:
+  def __init__(self, bus: int):
+    self._fd = os.open(f'/dev/i2c-{bus}', os.O_RDWR)
+
+  def __enter__(self) -> 'SMBus':
+    return self
+
+  def __exit__(self, *args) -> None:
+    self.close()
+
+  def close(self) -> None:
+    if hasattr(self, '_fd') and self._fd >= 0:
+      os.close(self._fd)
+      self._fd = -1
+
+  def _set_address(self, addr: int, force: bool = False) -> None:
+    ioctl_arg = I2C_SLAVE_FORCE if force else I2C_SLAVE
+    fcntl.ioctl(self._fd, ioctl_arg, addr)
+
+  def _smbus_access(self, read_write: int, command: int, size: int, data: _I2cSmbusData) -> None:
+    ioctl_data = _I2cSmbusIoctlData(read_write, command, size, ctypes.pointer(data))
+    fcntl.ioctl(self._fd, I2C_SMBUS, ioctl_data)
+
+  def read_byte_data(self, addr: int, register: int, force: bool = False) -> int:
+    self._set_address(addr, force)
+    data = _I2cSmbusData()
+    self._smbus_access(I2C_SMBUS_READ, register, I2C_SMBUS_BYTE_DATA, data)
+    return int(data.byte)
+
+  def write_byte_data(self, addr: int, register: int, value: int, force: bool = False) -> None:
+    self._set_address(addr, force)
+    data = _I2cSmbusData()
+    data.byte = value & 0xFF
+    self._smbus_access(I2C_SMBUS_WRITE, register, I2C_SMBUS_BYTE_DATA, data)
+
+  def read_i2c_block_data(self, addr: int, register: int, length: int, force: bool = False) -> list[int]:
+    self._set_address(addr, force)
+    if not (0 <= length <= I2C_SMBUS_BLOCK_MAX):
+      raise ValueError(f"length must be 0..{I2C_SMBUS_BLOCK_MAX}")
+
+    data = _I2cSmbusData()
+    data.block[0] = length
+    self._smbus_access(I2C_SMBUS_READ, register, I2C_SMBUS_I2C_BLOCK_DATA, data)
+    read_len = int(data.block[0]) or length
+    read_len = min(read_len, length)
+    return [int(b) for b in data.block[1 : read_len + 1]]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index bba80ee8d..19491ba53 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -17,9 +17,6 @@ dependencies = [
   "crcmod-plus",  # cars + qcomgpsd
   "tqdm",         # cars (fw_versions.py) on start + many one-off uses
 
-  # hardwared
-  "smbus2", # configuring amp
-
   # core
   "cffi",
   "scons",
diff --git a/system/hardware/tici/amplifier.py b/system/hardware/tici/amplifier.py
index d714837bb..09436e6ff 100755
--- a/system/hardware/tici/amplifier.py
+++ b/system/hardware/tici/amplifier.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 import time
-from smbus2 import SMBus
 from collections import namedtuple
 
+from openpilot.common.i2c import SMBus
+
 # https://datasheets.maximintegrated.com/en/ds/MAX98089.pdf
 
 AmpConfig = namedtuple('AmpConfig', ['name', 'value', 'register', 'offset', 'mask'])
diff --git a/system/sensord/sensors/i2c_sensor.py b/system/sensord/sensors/i2c_sensor.py
index 336ebb1fd..57edcc52d 100644
--- a/system/sensord/sensors/i2c_sensor.py
+++ b/system/sensord/sensors/i2c_sensor.py
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import time
-import smbus2
 import ctypes
 from collections.abc import Iterable
 
 from cereal import log
+from openpilot.common.i2c import SMBus
+
 
 class Sensor:
   class SensorException(Exception):
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ class Sensor:
     pass
 
   def __init__(self, bus: int) -> None:
-    self.bus = smbus2.SMBus(bus)
+    self.bus = SMBus(bus)
     self.source = log.SensorEventData.SensorSource.velodyne  # unknown
     self.start_ts = 0.
 
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 3e3522eb3..2c5f32ec7 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -1316,7 +1316,6 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "sentry-sdk" },
     { name = "setproctitle" },
     { name = "setuptools" },
-    { name = "smbus2" },
     { name = "sounddevice" },
     { name = "spidev", marker = "sys_platform == 'linux'" },
     { name = "sympy" },
@@ -1423,7 +1422,6 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "sentry-sdk" },
     { name = "setproctitle" },
     { name = "setuptools" },
-    { name = "smbus2" },
     { name = "sounddevice" },
     { name = "spidev", marker = "sys_platform == 'linux'" },
     { name = "sympy" },
@@ -4741,15 +4739,6 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/b7/ce/149a00dd41f10bc29e5921b496af8b574d8413afcd5e30dfa0ed46c2cc5e/six-1.17.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:4721f391ed90541fddacab5acf947aa0d3dc7d27b2e1e8eda2be8970586c3274", size = 11050, upload-time = "2024-12-04T17:35:26.475Z" },
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "smbus2"
-version = "0.6.0"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/4e/36/afafd43770caae69f04e21402552a8f94a072def46a002fab9357f4852ce/smbus2-0.6.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:9b5ff1e998e114730f9dfe0c4babbef06c92468cfb61eaa684e30f225661b95b", size = 17403, upload-time = "2025-12-20T09:02:52.017Z" }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/a5/cf/2e1d6805da6f9c9b3a4358076ff2e072d828ba7fed124edc1b729e210c55/smbus2-0.6.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:03d83d2a9a4afc5ddca0698ccabf101cb3de52bc5aefd7b76778ffb27ff654e0", size = 11849, upload-time = "2025-12-20T09:02:51.219Z" },
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "sortedcontainers"
 version = "2.4.0"