diff --git a/lib/utils/envutils/environment.go b/lib/utils/envutils/environment.go
index d7e01f46cd575..141ffbb390bc4 100644
--- a/lib/utils/envutils/environment.go
+++ b/lib/utils/envutils/environment.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package envutils
 import (
 	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -39,10 +40,14 @@ func ReadEnvironmentFile(filename string) ([]string, error) {
 	}
 	defer file.Close()
 
+	return readEnvironment(file)
+}
+
+func readEnvironment(r io.Reader) ([]string, error) {
 	var lineno int
 	env := &SafeEnv{}
 
-	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(file)
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(r)
 	for scanner.Scan() {
 		line := strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Text())
 
@@ -50,7 +55,7 @@ func ReadEnvironmentFile(filename string) ([]string, error) {
 		// https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/blob/master/session.c#L873-L874
 		lineno = lineno + 1
 		if lineno > teleport.MaxEnvironmentFileLines {
-			log.Warnf("Too many lines in environment file %v, returning first %v lines", filename, teleport.MaxEnvironmentFileLines)
+			log.Warnf("Too many lines in environment file, returning first %v lines", teleport.MaxEnvironmentFileLines)
 			return *env, nil
 		}
 
@@ -62,7 +67,7 @@ func ReadEnvironmentFile(filename string) ([]string, error) {
 		// split on first =, if not found, log it and continue
 		idx := strings.Index(line, "=")
 		if idx == -1 {
-			log.Debugf("Bad line %v while reading %v: no = separator found", lineno, filename)
+			log.Debugf("Bad line %v while reading environment file: no = separator found", lineno)
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -70,7 +75,7 @@ func ReadEnvironmentFile(filename string) ([]string, error) {
 		key := line[:idx]
 		value := line[idx+1:]
 		if strings.TrimSpace(key) == "" {
-			log.Debugf("Bad line %v while reading %v: key without name", lineno, filename)
+			log.Debugf("Bad line %v while reading environment file: key without name", lineno)
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -78,9 +83,8 @@ func ReadEnvironmentFile(filename string) ([]string, error) {
 		env.AddTrusted(key, value)
 	}
 
-	err = scanner.Err()
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Warnf("Unable to read environment file %v: %v, skipping", filename, err)
+	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+		log.Warnf("Unable to read environment file: %v", err)
 		return []string{}, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/utils/envutils/environment_test.go b/lib/utils/envutils/environment_test.go
index 38b856fb2d014..12758f07dc113 100644
--- a/lib/utils/envutils/environment_test.go
+++ b/lib/utils/envutils/environment_test.go
@@ -16,14 +16,13 @@ limitations under the License.
 package envutils
 
 import (
-	"os"
+	"bytes"
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
-func TestReadEnvironmentFile(t *testing.T) {
+func TestReadEnvironment(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
 	// contents of environment file
@@ -40,21 +39,11 @@ bar=foo
 LD_PRELOAD=attack
 `)
 
-	// create a temp file with an environment in it
-	f, err := os.CreateTemp(t.TempDir(), "teleport-environment-")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	defer os.Remove(f.Name())
-	_, err = f.Write(rawenv)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	err = f.Close()
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// read in the temp file
-	env, err := ReadEnvironmentFile(f.Name())
+	env, err := readEnvironment(bytes.NewReader(rawenv))
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// check we parsed it correctly
-	require.Empty(t, cmp.Diff(env, []string{"foo=bar", "foo=bar=baz", "foo=", "bar=foo"}))
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"foo=bar", "foo=bar=baz", "foo=", "bar=foo"}, env)
 }
 
 func TestSafeEnvAdd(t *testing.T) {