diff --git a/errors/errors.go b/errors/errors.go
index d7c2b2bb..294e2ea8 100644
--- a/errors/errors.go
+++ b/errors/errors.go
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 package errors
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-
-	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
 
 /*
@@ -12,38 +11,25 @@ import (
 / Only the public parts of errors will be returned to the caller, the rest can be logged server side.
 */
 
-// hoist some error functions for convenience
-var (
-	Wrap   = errors.Wrap
-	Wrapf  = errors.Wrapf
-	New    = errors.New
-	Errorf = errors.Errorf
-)
-
-type public interface {
-	GetPublicMessage() string
-}
-
-type internal interface {
-	GetInternalError() error
-}
-
 func optionalString(s string) *string {
 	return &s
 }
 
 func GetPublicMessage(err error) *string {
-	pu, ok := errors.Cause(err).(public)
+	pubErr := &publicError{}
+	ok := errors.As(err, &pubErr)
+
 	if ok {
-		return optionalString(pu.GetPublicMessage())
+		return optionalString(pubErr.GetPublicMessage())
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
 func GetInternalError(err error) error {
-	in, ok := errors.Cause(err).(internal)
+	pubErr := &publicError{}
+	ok := errors.As(err, &pubErr)
 	if ok {
-		return in.GetInternalError()
+		return pubErr.GetInternalError()
 	}
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/errors/errors_test.go b/errors/errors_test.go
index 589922b3..79cb372a 100644
--- a/errors/errors_test.go
+++ b/errors/errors_test.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
@@ -26,7 +25,6 @@ func TestPublicErrors(t *testing.T) {
 	baseErr := GetInternalError(err)
 	r.NotNil(baseErr)
 	r.Equal("base error", baseErr.Error())
-	r.Equal("base error", errors.Cause(baseErr).Error())
 
 	// not a publicError
 	err = fmt.Errorf("scary error")
@@ -63,3 +61,25 @@ func TestGetInternalErrorNilError(t *testing.T) {
 
 	r.NoError(nilError.GetInternalError())
 }
+
+func TestChainOfErrors(t *testing.T) {
+	r := require.New(t)
+
+	pubErr1 := PublicWrap(fmt.Errorf("error1"), "public message1")
+	err2 := fmt.Errorf("error2")
+	err3 := fmt.Errorf("error3")
+	pubErr2 := PublicWrap(fmt.Errorf("error4"), "public message2")
+	err5 := fmt.Errorf("error5")
+
+	//err5 -> pubErr2 -> err3 -> err2 -> pubErr1
+	err := fmt.Errorf("%w: %w: %w: %w: %w", err5, pubErr2, err3, err2, pubErr1)
+	msg := GetPublicMessage(err)
+	r.NotNil(msg)
+	// gets the first public message off the chain
+	r.Equal("public message2", *msg)
+
+	// gets the first internal error off the chain
+	intErr := GetInternalError(err)
+	r.NotNil(intErr)
+	r.Equal("error4", intErr.Error())
+}
diff --git a/errors/go.mod b/errors/go.mod
index 3596578a..819b44f2 100644
--- a/errors/go.mod
+++ b/errors/go.mod
@@ -4,16 +4,13 @@ go 1.21
 
 toolchain go1.21.1
 
-require (
-	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
-	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4
-)
+require github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0
 
 require (
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
-	github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.10.0 // indirect
+	github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.12.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/errors/go.sum b/errors/go.sum
index 7751f73f..a1dc9ac9 100644
--- a/errors/go.sum
+++ b/errors/go.sum
@@ -9,15 +9,13 @@ github.com/kr/text v0.1.0/go.mod h1:4Jbv+DJW3UT/LiOwJeYQe1efqtUx/iVham/4vfdArNI=
 github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 h1:5Nx0Ya0ZqY2ygV366QzturHI13Jq95ApcVaJBhpS+AY=
 github.com/kr/text v0.2.0/go.mod h1:eLer722TekiGuMkidMxC/pM04lWEeraHUUmBw8l2grE=
 github.com/pkg/diff v0.0.0-20210226163009-20ebb0f2a09e/go.mod h1:pJLUxLENpZxwdsKMEsNbx1VGcRFpLqf3715MtcvvzbA=
-github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 h1:FEBLx1zS214owpjy7qsBeixbURkuhQAwrK5UwLGTwt4=
-github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1/go.mod h1:bwawxfHBFNV+L2hUp1rHADufV3IMtnDRdf1r5NINEl0=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.9.0/go.mod h1:WtVeX8xhTBvf0smdhujwtBcq4Qrzq/fJaraNFVN+nFs=
-github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.10.0 h1:TMyTOH3F/DB16zRVcYyreMH6GnZZrwQVAoYjRBZyWFQ=
-github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.10.0/go.mod h1:UQnix2H7Ngw/k4C5ijL5+65zddjncjaFoBhdsK/akog=
-github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4 h1:CcVxjf3Q8PM0mHUKJCdn+eZZtm5yQwehR5yeSVQQcUk=
-github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4/go.mod h1:sz/lmYIOXD/1dqDmKjjqLyZ2RngseejIcXlSw2iwfAo=
+github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.12.0 h1:exVL4IDcn6na9z1rAb56Vxr+CgyK3nn3O+epU5NdKM8=
+github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.12.0/go.mod h1:E+RYuTGaKKdloAfM02xzb0FW3Paa99yedzYV+kq4uf4=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0 h1:HtqpIVDClZ4nwg75+f6Lvsy/wHu+3BoSGCbBAcpTsTg=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0/go.mod h1:r2ic/lqez/lEtzL7wO/rwa5dbSLXVDPFyf8C91i36aY=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c h1:Hei/4ADfdWqJk1ZMxUNpqntNwaWcugrBjAiHlqqRiVk=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c/go.mod h1:JHkPIbrfpd72SG/EVd6muEfDQjcINNoR0C8j2r3qZ4Q=