diff --git a/src/ir/lower/comptime.zig b/src/ir/lower/comptime.zig
index 4bb9a412..64820fa4 100644
--- a/src/ir/lower/comptime.zig
+++ b/src/ir/lower/comptime.zig
@@ -6,9 +6,7 @@ const types = @import("../types.zig");
 const inst_mod = @import("../inst.zig");
 const unescape = @import("../../unescape.zig");
 const parser_mod = @import("../../parser.zig");
-const interp_mod = @import("../interp.zig");
 const comptime_vm = @import("../comptime_vm.zig");
-const build_opts = @import("build_opts");
 const program_index_mod = @import("../program_index.zig");
 const resolver_mod = @import("../resolver.zig");
 const ModuleConstInfo = program_index_mod.ModuleConstInfo;
@@ -588,34 +586,24 @@ pub fn evalComptimeString(self: *Lowering, expr: *const Node) ?[:0]const u8 {
         return self.alloc.dupeZ(u8, str) catch null;
     }
 
-    // Case 2: Evaluate via IR interpreter, reusing the parent module.
-    // The parent's `scanDecls` pass has already registered every
-    // type / protocol / impl / thunk the comptime call may need
-    // (Allocator, CAllocator, Context, the per-impl thunks). A
-    // fresh empty module would only lazy-lower function ASTs and
-    // would miss the type/protocol registrations, which would break
-    // `context.allocator.X` — the protocol dispatch chain needs
-    // those types to resolve struct field layout and the alloc/
-    // dealloc thunks at the bottom of the dispatch.
+    // Case 2: evaluate on the comptime VM (the SOLE evaluator — P5.7), reusing
+    // the parent module. The parent's `scanDecls` pass has already registered
+    // every type / protocol / impl / thunk the comptime call may need
+    // (Allocator, CAllocator, Context, the per-impl thunks); a fresh empty
+    // module would miss those and break `context.allocator.X`.
+    //
+    // Lowering-time IR can be malformed (e.g. a `ret Ref.none` left by an
+    // unresolved name — see `0737`); the VM is hardened to BAIL (never panic) on
+    // it, so `tryEval` yields null and we return null. The real user diagnostic
+    // (the visibility error, …) was already emitted while lowering the inserted
+    // expression. `regToValue` dupes the result string into `self.alloc`, so it
+    // outlives the VM's arena.
     const ct_func_id = self.createComptimeFunction("__insert", expr, .string);
-
-    // NOTE: the comptime VM is intentionally NOT wired at this LOWERING-time
-    // site. Unlike the emit-time const-init / `#run` folds (which run on fully
-    // lowered IR), lowering-time IR can be malformed (e.g. a `ret Ref.none` left by
-    // an unresolved name — see `0737`), and routing that through the VM is out of
-    // scope until the VM is fully hardened against arbitrary malformed IR. The
-    // emit-time sites already give the VM full corpus coverage.
-    var interp = interp_mod.Interpreter.init(self.module, self.alloc);
-    defer interp.deinit();
-    if (self.diagnostics) |d| if (d.import_sources) |sm| interp.setSourceMap(sm);
-
-    const result = interp.call(ct_func_id, &.{}) catch return null;
-
-    const str = result.asString(&interp) orelse switch (result) {
+    const result = comptime_vm.tryEval(self.alloc, self.module, ct_func_id, null, null) orelse return null;
+    const str = switch (result) {
         .string => |s| s,
         else => return null,
     };
-
     return self.alloc.dupeZ(u8, str) catch null;
 }