diff --git a/ios/app.mjs b/ios/app.mjs
index fda2ee01b..353b21cda 100644
--- a/ios/app.mjs
+++ b/ios/app.mjs
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ export function makeProject(projectRoot, targetPlatform, options, fs = nodefs) {
     ReactTestAppUITests: project.uitestsBuildSettings,
   };
 
-  const pbxproj = openXcodeProject(project.xcodeprojPath, fs);
+  const pbxproj = openXcodeProject(project.xcodeprojPath);
   for (const target of pbxproj.targets) {
     const { name: targetName } = target;
     if (typeof targetName !== "string" || !(targetName in mods)) {
@@ -303,8 +303,7 @@ export function makeProject(projectRoot, targetPlatform, options, fs = nodefs) {
     }
 
     const targetBuildSettings = Object.entries(mods[targetName]);
-    for (const config of target.buildConfigurations) {
-      const { buildSettings } = config;
+    for (const { buildSettings } of target.buildConfigurations) {
       assertObject(buildSettings, "target.buildConfigurations[].buildSettings");
 
       for (const [setting, value] of targetBuildSettings) {
diff --git a/ios/utils.mjs b/ios/utils.mjs
index 85019e002..b74ee6fe5 100644
--- a/ios/utils.mjs
+++ b/ios/utils.mjs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
  * @typedef {import("../scripts/types.ts").JSONValue} JSONValue;
  */
 
+const MAX_BUFFER = 16 * 1024 * 1024; // 16 MB because some plists can get big
+
 /**
  * @param {JSONValue} obj
  * @returns {obj is JSONObject}
@@ -66,10 +68,11 @@ export function jsonFromPlist(filename) {
   const args = ["-convert", "json", "-o", "-", filename];
   const plutil = spawnSync("/usr/bin/plutil", args, {
     stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "inherit"],
+    maxBuffer: MAX_BUFFER,
   });
 
   if (plutil.status !== 0) {
-    throw new Error(`Failed to read '${filename}'`);
+    throw plutil.error ?? new Error(`Failed to read '${filename}'`);
   }
 
   return JSON.parse(plutil.stdout.toString());
@@ -85,10 +88,11 @@ export function plistFromJSON(source, filename) {
   const plutil = spawnSync("/usr/bin/plutil", args, {
     stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "inherit"],
     input: JSON.stringify(source),
+    maxBuffer: MAX_BUFFER,
   });
 
   if (plutil.status !== 0) {
-    throw new Error(`Failed to generate '${filename}'`);
+    throw plutil.error ?? new Error(`Failed to generate '${filename}'`);
   }
 
   return plutil.stdout.toString();
@@ -124,3 +128,20 @@ export function resolveResources(appConfig, targetPlatform) {
 
   return undefined;
 }
+
+/**
+ * @param {string} destination
+ * @param {JSONObject} source
+ * @returns {void}
+ */
+export function writePlistFromJSON(destination, source) {
+  const args = ["-convert", "xml1", "-r", "-o", destination, "--", "-"];
+  const plutil = spawnSync("/usr/bin/plutil", args, {
+    stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "inherit"],
+    input: JSON.stringify(source),
+  });
+
+  if (plutil.status !== 0) {
+    throw plutil.error ?? new Error(`Failed to write '${destination}'`);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/ios/xcode.mjs b/ios/xcode.mjs
index 00bbe80b0..35c45cd29 100644
--- a/ios/xcode.mjs
+++ b/ios/xcode.mjs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {
   isObject,
   isString,
   jsonFromPlist,
-  plistFromJSON,
+  writePlistFromJSON,
 } from "./utils.mjs";
 
 /**
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ export function configureBuildSchemes(
 /**
  * @param {string} xcodeproj
  */
-export function openXcodeProject(xcodeproj, fs = nodefs) {
+export function openXcodeProject(xcodeproj) {
   const projectPath = path.join(xcodeproj, "project.pbxproj");
   const pbxproj = jsonFromPlist(projectPath);
   assertObject(pbxproj.objects, "pbxproj.objects");
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ export function openXcodeProject(xcodeproj, fs = nodefs) {
 
   return {
     save() {
-      fs.writeFileSync(projectPath, plistFromJSON(pbxproj, projectPath));
+      writePlistFromJSON(projectPath, pbxproj);
     },
     get targets() {
       return targets.map((target, index) => {