diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b8bff339e..0c71e4711 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -19,3 +19,5 @@ a.out
 
 # direnv Nix stuff
 .direnv/
+
+reference-code/
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 9dffc99b7..068aa1ac7 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,14 +1,19 @@
 module github.com/CosmWasm/wasmvm/v3
 
-go 1.22
+go 1.22.0
+
+toolchain go1.23.8
 
 require (
 	github.com/google/btree v1.0.0
 	github.com/shamaton/msgpack/v2 v2.2.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.1
+	github.com/tetratelabs/wazero v0.0.0
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.16.0
 )
 
+replace github.com/tetratelabs/wazero => ./reference-code/wazero
+
 require (
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 // indirect
diff --git a/internal/wazeroimpl/runtime.go b/internal/wazeroimpl/runtime.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed5b09d02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/wazeroimpl/runtime.go
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+package wazeroimpl
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/tetratelabs/wazero"
+	"github.com/tetratelabs/wazero/api"
+
+	"github.com/CosmWasm/wasmvm/v3/types"
+)
+
+// Cache manages a wazero runtime and compiled modules.
+type Cache struct {
+	runtime  wazero.Runtime
+	modules  map[string]wazero.CompiledModule
+	memLimit uint32 // in wasm pages
+}
+
+// InitCache creates a new wazero Runtime with memory limits similar to api.InitCache.
+func InitCache(config types.VMConfig) (*Cache, error) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	r := wazero.NewRuntime(ctx)
+	limitPages := config.Cache.InstanceMemoryLimitBytes.Uint32() / 65536
+	return &Cache{
+		runtime:  r,
+		modules:  make(map[string]wazero.CompiledModule),
+		memLimit: limitPages,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// Close releases all resources of the runtime.
+func (c *Cache) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
+	if c.runtime != nil {
+		return c.runtime.Close(ctx)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Compile stores a compiled module under the given checksum.
+func (c *Cache) Compile(ctx context.Context, checksum types.Checksum, wasm []byte) error {
+	mod, err := c.runtime.CompileModule(ctx, wasm)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	c.modules[hex.EncodeToString(checksum)] = mod
+	return nil
+}
+
+// getModule returns the compiled module for the checksum.
+func (c *Cache) getModule(checksum types.Checksum) (wazero.CompiledModule, bool) {
+	mod, ok := c.modules[hex.EncodeToString(checksum)]
+	return mod, ok
+}
+
+// registerHost builds an env module with callbacks for the given state.
+func (c *Cache) registerHost(ctx context.Context, store types.KVStore, apiImpl *types.GoAPI, q *types.Querier, gm types.GasMeter) (api.Module, error) {
+	builder := c.runtime.NewHostModuleBuilder("env")
+
+	// db_read
+	builder.NewFunctionBuilder().WithGoModuleFunction(func(ctx context.Context, m api.Module, stack []uint64) {
+		keyPtr := uint32(stack[0])
+		keyLen := uint32(stack[1])
+		outPtr := uint32(stack[2])
+		mem := m.Memory()
+		key, _ := mem.Read(keyPtr, keyLen)
+		value := store.Get(key)
+		if value == nil {
+			_ = mem.WriteUint32Le(outPtr, 0)
+			return
+		}
+		_ = mem.WriteUint32Le(outPtr, uint32(len(value)))
+		mem.Write(outPtr+4, value)
+	}, []api.ValueType{api.ValueTypeI32, api.ValueTypeI32, api.ValueTypeI32}, []api.ValueType{}).Export("db_read")
+
+	// db_write
+	builder.NewFunctionBuilder().WithGoModuleFunction(func(ctx context.Context, m api.Module, stack []uint64) {
+		keyPtr := uint32(stack[0])
+		keyLen := uint32(stack[1])
+		valPtr := uint32(stack[2])
+		valLen := uint32(stack[3])
+		mem := m.Memory()
+		key, _ := mem.Read(keyPtr, keyLen)
+		val, _ := mem.Read(valPtr, valLen)
+		store.Set(key, val)
+	}, []api.ValueType{api.ValueTypeI32, api.ValueTypeI32, api.ValueTypeI32, api.ValueTypeI32}, []api.ValueType{}).Export("db_write")
+
+	// db_remove
+	builder.NewFunctionBuilder().WithGoModuleFunction(func(ctx context.Context, m api.Module, stack []uint64) {
+		keyPtr := uint32(stack[0])
+		keyLen := uint32(stack[1])
+		mem := m.Memory()
+		key, _ := mem.Read(keyPtr, keyLen)
+		store.Delete(key)
+	}, []api.ValueType{api.ValueTypeI32, api.ValueTypeI32}, []api.ValueType{}).Export("db_remove")
+
+	// query_external - simplified: returns 0 length
+	builder.NewFunctionBuilder().WithGoModuleFunction(func(ctx context.Context, m api.Module, stack []uint64) {
+		resPtr := uint32(stack[2])
+		_ = m.Memory().WriteUint32Le(resPtr, 0)
+	}, []api.ValueType{api.ValueTypeI64, api.ValueTypeI32, api.ValueTypeI32}, []api.ValueType{}).Export("query_external")
+
+	return builder.Instantiate(ctx)
+}
+
+// Instantiate loads and runs the contract's instantiate function.
+func (c *Cache) Instantiate(ctx context.Context, checksum types.Checksum, env, info, msg []byte, store types.KVStore, apiImpl *types.GoAPI, q *types.Querier, gm types.GasMeter) error {
+	compiled, ok := c.getModule(checksum)
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("module not found")
+	}
+	_, err := c.registerHost(ctx, store, apiImpl, q, gm)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	mod, err := c.runtime.InstantiateModule(ctx, compiled, wazero.NewModuleConfig().WithMemoryLimitPages(c.memLimit))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if fn := mod.ExportedFunction("instantiate"); fn != nil {
+		_, err = fn.Call(ctx)
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+// Execute runs the contract's execute function.
+func (c *Cache) Execute(ctx context.Context, checksum types.Checksum, env, info, msg []byte, store types.KVStore, apiImpl *types.GoAPI, q *types.Querier, gm types.GasMeter) error {
+	compiled, ok := c.getModule(checksum)
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("module not found")
+	}
+	_, err := c.registerHost(ctx, store, apiImpl, q, gm)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	mod, err := c.runtime.InstantiateModule(ctx, compiled, wazero.NewModuleConfig().WithMemoryLimitPages(c.memLimit))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if fn := mod.ExportedFunction("execute"); fn != nil {
+		_, err = fn.Call(ctx)
+	}
+	return err
+}