diff --git a/src/Surface.zig b/src/Surface.zig
index 13436f9ff..3bee52196 100644
--- a/src/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/Surface.zig
@@ -519,17 +519,18 @@ pub fn init(
     // This separate block ({}) is important because our errdefers must
     // be scoped here to be valid.
     {
-        var env_ = rt_surface.defaultTermioEnv() catch |err| env: {
+        var env = rt_surface.defaultTermioEnv() catch |err| env: {
             // If an error occurs, we don't want to block surface startup.
             log.warn("error getting env map for surface err={}", .{err});
-            break :env null;
+            break :env internal_os.getEnvMap(alloc) catch
+                std.process.EnvMap.init(alloc);
         };
-        errdefer if (env_) |*env| env.deinit();
+        errdefer env.deinit();
 
         // Initialize our IO backend
         var io_exec = try termio.Exec.init(alloc, .{
             .command = command,
-            .env = env_,
+            .env = env,
             .shell_integration = config.@"shell-integration",
             .shell_integration_features = config.@"shell-integration-features",
             .working_directory = config.@"working-directory",
diff --git a/src/apprt/embedded.zig b/src/apprt/embedded.zig
index 4b9066355..ffcf7fdbe 100644
--- a/src/apprt/embedded.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/embedded.zig
@@ -1030,7 +1030,7 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
         };
     }
 
-    pub fn defaultTermioEnv(self: *const Surface) !?std.process.EnvMap {
+    pub fn defaultTermioEnv(self: *const Surface) !std.process.EnvMap {
         const alloc = self.app.core_app.alloc;
         var env = try internal_os.getEnvMap(alloc);
         errdefer env.deinit();
diff --git a/src/apprt/glfw.zig b/src/apprt/glfw.zig
index cb034cd86..39c6e058c 100644
--- a/src/apprt/glfw.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/glfw.zig
@@ -880,9 +880,8 @@ pub const Surface = struct {
         };
     }
 
-    pub fn defaultTermioEnv(self: *Surface) !?std.process.EnvMap {
-        _ = self;
-        return null;
+    pub fn defaultTermioEnv(self: *Surface) !std.process.EnvMap {
+        return try internal_os.getEnvMap(self.app.app.alloc);
     }
 
     fn sizeCallback(window: glfw.Window, width: i32, height: i32) void {
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
index c4b7717cc..6c39677d5 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/Surface.zig
@@ -2254,7 +2254,7 @@ fn doPaste(self: *Surface, data: [:0]const u8) void {
     };
 }
 
-pub fn defaultTermioEnv(self: *Surface) !?std.process.EnvMap {
+pub fn defaultTermioEnv(self: *Surface) !std.process.EnvMap {
     const alloc = self.app.core_app.alloc;
     var env = try internal_os.getEnvMap(alloc);
     errdefer env.deinit();
diff --git a/src/termio/Exec.zig b/src/termio/Exec.zig
index caef2229d..864f2e21c 100644
--- a/src/termio/Exec.zig
+++ b/src/termio/Exec.zig
@@ -682,7 +682,7 @@ pub const ThreadData = struct {
 
 pub const Config = struct {
     command: ?[]const u8 = null,
-    env: ?EnvMap = null,
+    env: EnvMap,
     shell_integration: configpkg.Config.ShellIntegration = .detect,
     shell_integration_features: configpkg.Config.ShellIntegrationFeatures = .{},
     working_directory: ?[]const u8 = null,
@@ -724,8 +724,7 @@ const Subprocess = struct {
 
         // Get our env. If a default env isn't provided by the caller
         // then we get it ourselves.
-        var env = cfg.env orelse try internal_os.getEnvMap(alloc);
-        errdefer if (cfg.env == null) env.deinit();
+        var env = cfg.env;
 
         // If we have a resources dir then set our env var
         if (cfg.resources_dir) |dir| {