diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Internal/HostingEnvironmentExtensions.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Internal/HostingEnvironmentExtensions.cs
index b38f997c..50be2280 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Internal/HostingEnvironmentExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/Internal/HostingEnvironmentExtensions.cs
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ public static void Initialize(this IHostingEnvironment hostingEnvironment, strin
             
             hostingEnvironment.EnvironmentName =
                 options.Environment ??
-                Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT") ??
                 hostingEnvironment.EnvironmentName;
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostBuilder.cs b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostBuilder.cs
index 88cd1c76..ef8589c5 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostBuilder.cs
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ public WebHostBuilder()
             _hostingEnvironment = new HostingEnvironment();
             _configureServicesDelegates = new List<Action<IServiceCollection>>();
             _configureLoggingDelegates = new List<Action<ILoggerFactory>>();
+
+            // This may end up storing null, but that's indistinguishable from not adding it.
+            UseSetting(WebHostDefaults.EnvironmentKey, Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT"));
         }
 
         /// <summary>