diff --git a/lib/cli/src/commands/run/wasi.rs b/lib/cli/src/commands/run/wasi.rs
index 62580bfd0a2..6af4b3c39dc 100644
--- a/lib/cli/src/commands/run/wasi.rs
+++ b/lib/cli/src/commands/run/wasi.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use virtual_fs::{DeviceFile, PassthruFileSystem, RootFileSystemBuilder};
 use wasmer::{AsStoreMut, Instance, Module, RuntimeError, Value};
 use wasmer_wasix::os::tty_sys::SysTty;
 use wasmer_wasix::os::TtyBridge;
+use wasmer_wasix::runtime::task_manager::tokio::TokioTaskManager;
 use wasmer_wasix::types::__WASI_STDIN_FILENO;
 use wasmer_wasix::{
     default_fs_backing, get_wasi_versions, PluggableRuntime, WasiEnv, WasiError, WasiFunctionEnv,
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ impl Wasi {
             .map(|(a, b)| (a.to_string(), b.to_string()))
             .collect::<HashMap<_, _>>();
 
-        let mut rt = PluggableRuntime::default();
+        let mut rt = PluggableRuntime::new(Arc::new(TokioTaskManager::shared()));
 
         if self.networking {
             rt.set_networking_implementation(virtual_net::host::LocalNetworking::default());
diff --git a/lib/wasi/src/bin_factory/module_cache.rs b/lib/wasi/src/bin_factory/module_cache.rs
index bdeb8f95231..0330bd0beef 100644
--- a/lib/wasi/src/bin_factory/module_cache.rs
+++ b/lib/wasi/src/bin_factory/module_cache.rs
@@ -283,13 +283,13 @@ impl ModuleCache {
 #[cfg(test)]
 #[cfg(feature = "sys")]
 mod tests {
-    use std::time::Duration;
+    use std::{sync::Arc, time::Duration};
 
     use tracing_subscriber::{
         filter, prelude::__tracing_subscriber_SubscriberExt, util::SubscriberInitExt, Layer,
     };
 
-    use crate::PluggableRuntime;
+    use crate::{runtime::task_manager::tokio::TokioTaskManager, PluggableRuntime};
 
     use super::*;
 
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ mod tests {
         let mut cache = ModuleCache::new(None, None, true);
         cache.cache_time = std::time::Duration::from_millis(500);
 
-        let rt = PluggableRuntime::default();
+        let rt = PluggableRuntime::new(Arc::new(TokioTaskManager::shared()));
         let tasks = rt.task_manager();
 
         let mut store = Vec::new();
diff --git a/lib/wasi/src/runtime/mod.rs b/lib/wasi/src/runtime/mod.rs
index bcf8236ff8b..c139ae21e0c 100644
--- a/lib/wasi/src/runtime/mod.rs
+++ b/lib/wasi/src/runtime/mod.rs
@@ -140,22 +140,6 @@ impl PluggableRuntime {
     }
 }
 
-impl Default for PluggableRuntime {
-    #[cfg(feature = "sys-thread")]
-    fn default() -> Self {
-        let rt = task_manager::tokio::TokioTaskManager::shared();
-        let mut s = Self::new(Arc::new(rt));
-        let engine = wasmer::Store::default().engine().clone();
-        s.engine = Some(engine);
-        s
-    }
-
-    #[cfg(not(feature = "sys-thread"))]
-    fn default() -> Self {
-        unimplemented!("Default WasiRuntime is not implemented on this target")
-    }
-}
-
 impl WasiRuntime for PluggableRuntime {
     fn networking(&self) -> &DynVirtualNetworking {
         &self.networking
diff --git a/lib/wasi/src/state/builder.rs b/lib/wasi/src/state/builder.rs
index 3ea3af812b5..68bc42ab058 100644
--- a/lib/wasi/src/state/builder.rs
+++ b/lib/wasi/src/state/builder.rs
@@ -722,9 +722,17 @@ impl WasiEnvBuilder {
             }
         }
 
-        let runtime = self
-            .runtime
-            .unwrap_or_else(|| Arc::new(PluggableRuntime::default()));
+        let runtime = self.runtime.unwrap_or_else(|| {
+            #[cfg(feature = "sys-thread")]
+            {
+                Arc::new(PluggableRuntime::new(Arc::new(crate::runtime::task_manager::tokio::TokioTaskManager::shared())))
+            }
+
+            #[cfg(not(feature = "sys-thread"))]
+            {
+                panic!("this build does not support a default runtime - specify one with WasiEnvBuilder::runtime()");
+            }
+        });
 
         let uses = self.uses;
         let map_commands = self.map_commands;
diff --git a/lib/wasi/tests/stdio.rs b/lib/wasi/tests/stdio.rs
index 1d5324a2b17..6fd1ecf7582 100644
--- a/lib/wasi/tests/stdio.rs
+++ b/lib/wasi/tests/stdio.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use virtual_fs::{AsyncReadExt, AsyncWriteExt};
 use wasmer::{Module, Store};
-use wasmer_wasix::{Pipe, PluggableRuntime, WasiEnv};
+use wasmer_wasix::{
+    runtime::task_manager::tokio::TokioTaskManager, Pipe, PluggableRuntime, WasiEnv,
+};
 
 mod sys {
     #[tokio::test]
@@ -76,7 +78,7 @@ async fn test_stdout() {
     // Create the `WasiEnv`.
     let (stdout_tx, mut stdout_rx) = Pipe::channel();
 
-    let rt = PluggableRuntime::default();
+    let rt = PluggableRuntime::new(Arc::new(TokioTaskManager::shared()));
 
     let builder = WasiEnv::builder("command-name")
         .runtime(Arc::new(rt))
@@ -112,7 +114,7 @@ async fn test_env() {
         builder.build()
     });
 
-    let rt = PluggableRuntime::default();
+    let rt = PluggableRuntime::new(Arc::new(TokioTaskManager::shared()));
 
     // Create the `WasiEnv`.
     let (pipe_tx, mut pipe_rx) = Pipe::channel();
@@ -157,7 +159,7 @@ async fn test_stdin() {
     let buf = "Hello, stdin!\n".as_bytes().to_owned();
     pipe_tx.write_all(&buf[..]).await.unwrap();
 
-    let rt = PluggableRuntime::default();
+    let rt = PluggableRuntime::new(Arc::new(TokioTaskManager::shared()));
 
     let builder = WasiEnv::builder("command-name")
         .runtime(Arc::new(rt))
diff --git a/tests/lib/wast/src/wasi_wast.rs b/tests/lib/wast/src/wasi_wast.rs
index dd96c0528bc..302da111a95 100644
--- a/tests/lib/wast/src/wasi_wast.rs
+++ b/tests/lib/wast/src/wasi_wast.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ use virtual_fs::{
     AsyncWriteExt, FileSystem, Pipe, ReadBuf, RootFileSystemBuilder,
 };
 use wasmer::{FunctionEnv, Imports, Module, Store};
+use wasmer_wasix::runtime::task_manager::tokio::TokioTaskManager;
 use wasmer_wasix::types::wasi::{Filesize, Timestamp};
 use wasmer_wasix::{
     generate_import_object_from_env, get_wasi_version, FsError, PluggableRuntime, VirtualFile,
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ impl<'a> WasiTest<'a> {
             out
         };
 
-        let mut rt = PluggableRuntime::default();
+        let mut rt = PluggableRuntime::new(Arc::new(TokioTaskManager::shared()));
         rt.set_engine(Some(store.engine().clone()));
 
         let tasks = rt.task_manager().runtime().clone();