diff --git a/android/Android.bp b/android/Android.bp
index 8f6c9ad56..f17a8a047 100644
--- a/android/Android.bp
+++ b/android/Android.bp
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ bootstrap_go_package {
         "soong",
         "soong-android-soongconfig",
         "soong-bazel",
-        "soong-env",
         "soong-shared",
         "soong-ui-metrics_proto",
     ],
diff --git a/android/env.go b/android/env.go
index c2a09aab8..a8c7777ad 100644
--- a/android/env.go
+++ b/android/env.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 
-	"android/soong/env"
+	"android/soong/shared"
 )
 
 // This file supports dependencies on environment variables.  During build manifest generation,
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func (c *envSingleton) GenerateBuildActions(ctx SingletonContext) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	data, err := env.EnvFileContents(envDeps)
+	data, err := shared.EnvFileContents(envDeps)
 	if err != nil {
 		ctx.Errorf(err.Error())
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/soong_build/Android.bp b/cmd/soong_build/Android.bp
index 6a0a87bc6..9f0922449 100644
--- a/cmd/soong_build/Android.bp
+++ b/cmd/soong_build/Android.bp
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ bootstrap_go_binary {
         "soong",
         "soong-android",
         "soong-bp2build",
-        "soong-env",
         "soong-ui-metrics_proto",
     ],
     srcs: [
diff --git a/cmd/soong_env/Android.bp b/cmd/soong_env/Android.bp
deleted file mode 100644
index ad717d0b1..000000000
--- a/cmd/soong_env/Android.bp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2015 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-package {
-    default_applicable_licenses: ["Android-Apache-2.0"],
-}
-
-bootstrap_go_binary {
-    name: "soong_env",
-    deps: [
-        "soong-env",
-    ],
-    srcs: [
-        "soong_env.go",
-    ],
-    default: true,
-}
diff --git a/cmd/soong_env/soong_env.go b/cmd/soong_env/soong_env.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 8020b17a0..000000000
--- a/cmd/soong_env/soong_env.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,57 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2015 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-// soong_env determines if the given soong environment file (usually ".soong.environment") is stale
-// by comparing its contents to the current corresponding environment variable values.
-// It fails if the file cannot be opened or corrupted, or its contents differ from the current
-// values.
-
-package main
-
-import (
-	"flag"
-	"fmt"
-	"os"
-
-	"android/soong/env"
-)
-
-func usage() {
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "usage: soong_env env_file\n")
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "exits with success if the environment varibles in env_file match\n")
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "the current environment\n")
-	flag.PrintDefaults()
-	os.Exit(2)
-}
-
-// This is a simple executable packaging, and the real work happens in env.StaleEnvFile.
-func main() {
-	flag.Parse()
-
-	if flag.NArg() != 1 {
-		usage()
-	}
-
-	stale, err := env.StaleEnvFile(flag.Arg(0))
-	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "error: %s\n", err.Error())
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-
-	if stale {
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-
-	os.Exit(0)
-}
diff --git a/env/Android.bp b/env/Android.bp
deleted file mode 100644
index c6a97b1e6..000000000
--- a/env/Android.bp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-package {
-    default_applicable_licenses: ["Android-Apache-2.0"],
-}
-
-bootstrap_go_package {
-    name: "soong-env",
-    pkgPath: "android/soong/env",
-    srcs: [
-        "env.go",
-    ],
-}
diff --git a/shared/Android.bp b/shared/Android.bp
index 5aa9d54f7..c79bc2b39 100644
--- a/shared/Android.bp
+++ b/shared/Android.bp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ bootstrap_go_package {
     name: "soong-shared",
     pkgPath: "android/soong/shared",
     srcs: [
+        "env.go",
         "paths.go",
     ],
     deps: [
diff --git a/env/env.go b/shared/env.go
similarity index 89%
rename from env/env.go
rename to shared/env.go
index 735a38aa4..7900daa88 100644
--- a/env/env.go
+++ b/shared/env.go
@@ -12,15 +12,15 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-// env implements the environment JSON file handling for the soong_env command line tool run before
-// the builder and for the env writer in the builder.
-package env
+// Implements the environment JSON file handling for serializing the
+// environment variables that were used in soong_build so that soong_ui can
+// check whether they have changed
+package shared
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
-	"os"
 	"sort"
 )
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func EnvFileContents(envDeps map[string]string) ([]byte, error) {
 // Reads and deserializes a Soong environment file located at the given file path to determine its
 // staleness. If any environment variable values have changed, it prints them out and returns true.
 // Failing to read or parse the file also causes it to return true.
-func StaleEnvFile(filepath string) (bool, error) {
+func StaleEnvFile(filepath string, getenv func(string) string) (bool, error) {
 	data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return true, err
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ func StaleEnvFile(filepath string) (bool, error) {
 	for _, entry := range contents {
 		key := entry.Key
 		old := entry.Value
-		cur := os.Getenv(key)
+		cur := getenv(key)
 		if old != cur {
 			changed = append(changed, fmt.Sprintf("%s (%q -> %q)", key, old, cur))
 		}
diff --git a/ui/build/soong.go b/ui/build/soong.go
index 899ab5da5..125dbcc11 100644
--- a/ui/build/soong.go
+++ b/ui/build/soong.go
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
-	"strings"
 
+	"android/soong/shared"
 	soong_metrics_proto "android/soong/ui/metrics/metrics_proto"
 
 	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
@@ -79,29 +79,12 @@ func runSoong(ctx Context, config Config) {
 		defer ctx.EndTrace()
 
 		envFile := filepath.Join(config.SoongOutDir(), ".soong.environment")
-		envTool := filepath.Join(config.SoongOutDir(), ".bootstrap/bin/soong_env")
-		if _, err := os.Stat(envFile); err == nil {
-			if _, err := os.Stat(envTool); err == nil {
-				cmd := Command(ctx, config, "soong_env", envTool, envFile)
-				cmd.Sandbox = soongSandbox
-
-				var buf strings.Builder
-				cmd.Stdout = &buf
-				cmd.Stderr = &buf
-				if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
-					ctx.Verboseln("soong_env failed, forcing manifest regeneration")
-					os.Remove(envFile)
-				}
-
-				if buf.Len() > 0 {
-					ctx.Verboseln(buf.String())
-				}
-			} else {
-				ctx.Verboseln("Missing soong_env tool, forcing manifest regeneration")
-				os.Remove(envFile)
-			}
-		} else if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
-			ctx.Fatalf("Failed to stat %f: %v", envFile, err)
+		getenv := func(k string) string {
+			v, _ := config.Environment().Get(k)
+			return v
+		}
+		if stale, _ := shared.StaleEnvFile(envFile, getenv); stale {
+			os.Remove(envFile)
 		}
 	}()