diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5ad8b7a..67e4d18 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,13 +11,10 @@ and the container exits with the same status when that service exits.
 ```dockerfile
 COPY beam-init beamctl /usr/local/bin/
 
-ENV BEAM_INIT_ENABLE_API=1
 ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/local/bin/beam-init"]
 CMD ["/usr/local/bin/my-app", "--listen", "0.0.0.0:8080"]
 ```
 
-`BEAM_INIT_ENABLE_API=1` enables the local Unix socket used by `beamctl` to interact with `beam-init`.
-
 ```shell
 # Start and inspect an additional service.
 beamctl start --name my-app -- /usr/local/bin/my-app --listen 0.0.0.0:8080
diff --git a/beam-init/src/main.rs b/beam-init/src/main.rs
index 05e3f1c..876ea57 100644
--- a/beam-init/src/main.rs
+++ b/beam-init/src/main.rs
@@ -71,18 +71,14 @@ async fn main() {
     let old_sigmask = signal_stream::init(&[SIGCHLD], tx_event.clone())
         .expect("failed to initialize the signal stream");
 
-    let fdstore = if cfg!(feature = "unstable-pty")
-        && env::var("BEAM_INIT_ENABLE_API").as_deref() == Ok("1")
-    {
+    let fdstore = if cfg!(feature = "unstable-pty") {
         fdstore::FdStore::bind_socket().expect("failed to bind fdstore socket")
     } else {
         fdstore::FdStore::no_socket()
     };
 
-    if env::var("BEAM_INIT_ENABLE_API").as_deref() == Ok("1") {
-        // Listen for API commands
-        api_impl::bind_api_socket(tx_event.clone()).expect("failed to bind api socket");
-    }
+    // Listen for API commands
+    api_impl::bind_api_socket(tx_event.clone()).expect("failed to bind api socket");
 
     let mut service_manager = ServiceManager::new(old_sigmask, tx_event, fdstore);
     loop {
diff --git a/test.Dockerfile b/test.Dockerfile
index f0c6b6e..2480a31 100644
--- a/test.Dockerfile
+++ b/test.Dockerfile
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ RUN apt-get install --update -y python3 python3-psutil
 COPY --from=builder /beam-init /bin/init
 COPY --from=builder /beamctl /bin/beamctl
 
-ENV BEAM_INIT_ENABLE_API=1
 ENV BEAM_INIT_ENABLE_DEBUG_LOGS=1
 ENV RUST_BACKTRACE=1