diff --git a/src/xir/attrs/attr_def.cpp b/src/xir/attrs/attr_def.cpp
index a7c2cc8..301aec3 100644
--- a/src/xir/attrs/attr_def.cpp
+++ b/src/xir/attrs/attr_def.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+#include <cstdint>
 #include <map>
 #include <string>
 #include <typeindex>
diff --git a/src/xir/graph/graph_imp.cpp b/src/xir/graph/graph_imp.cpp
index 0613000..657819f 100644
--- a/src/xir/graph/graph_imp.cpp
+++ b/src/xir/graph/graph_imp.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,16 @@
 
 #include "xir/graph/graph_imp.hpp"
 
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cerrno>
+#include <string>
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#  include <process.h>
+#else
+#  include <sys/wait.h>
+#  include <unistd.h>
+#endif
+
 #include "UniLog/UniLog.hpp"
 #include "xir/graph/serialize_v2.hpp"
 #include "xir/op/op_def.hpp"
@@ -25,6 +35,39 @@
 
 namespace xir {
 
+namespace {
+
+int run_dot_no_shell(const std::string& format, const std::string& input_dot,
+                     const std::string& output_file) {
+  const auto fmt = std::string{"-T"} + format;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  const char* argv[] = {"dot", fmt.c_str(), input_dot.c_str(), "-o",
+                        output_file.c_str(), nullptr};
+  return _spawnvp(_P_WAIT, "dot", argv);
+#else
+  auto pid = fork();
+  if (pid < 0) {
+    return -1;
+  }
+  if (pid == 0) {
+    const char* argv[] = {"dot", fmt.c_str(), input_dot.c_str(), "-o",
+                          output_file.c_str(), nullptr};
+    execvp("dot", const_cast<char* const*>(argv));
+    _exit(127);
+  }
+  int status = 0;
+  if (waitpid(pid, &status, 0) < 0) {
+    return -1;
+  }
+  if (WIFEXITED(status)) {
+    return WEXITSTATUS(status);
+  }
+  return -1;
+#endif
+}
+
+}  // namespace
+
 GraphImp::GraphImp(std::string name)
     : graph_{std::make_unique<GraphType>(0)},
       root_subgraph_{
@@ -248,20 +291,14 @@ void GraphImp::visualize(const std::string& file_path,
                          const std::string& format) const {
   auto file_name_dot = file_path + ".dot";
   save_to_dot(file_name_dot);
-  auto create_fig_from_dot =
-      "dot -T" + format + " " + file_name_dot + " -o " + file_path;
-  auto result = std::system(create_fig_from_dot.c_str());
+  auto result = run_dot_no_shell(format, file_name_dot, file_path);
   UNI_LOG_CHECK(result == 0, XIR_OPERATION_FAILED)
-      << "command: \"" << create_fig_from_dot << "\", std::system exit("
-      << result << ")";
-#ifdef _WIN32
-  auto rm_dot = "del " + file_name_dot;
-#else
-  auto rm_dot = "rm " + file_name_dot;
-#endif
-  result = std::system(rm_dot.c_str());
+      << "failed to run dot for output file \"" << file_path
+      << "\", exit code: " << result;
+  result = std::remove(file_name_dot.c_str());
   UNI_LOG_CHECK(result == 0, XIR_OPERATION_FAILED)
-      << "command: \"" << rm_dot << "\", std::system exit(" << result << ")";
+      << "failed to remove temporary file \"" << file_name_dot
+      << "\", errno: " << errno;
 }
 
 std::int64_t GraphImp::compute_model_size() const {
diff --git a/src/xir/graph/serialize_v2.hpp b/src/xir/graph/serialize_v2.hpp
index fc49cad..3feff8a 100644
--- a/src/xir/graph/serialize_v2.hpp
+++ b/src/xir/graph/serialize_v2.hpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include <cstdint>
 #include <map>
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>