diff --git a/src/builtin_set.cpp b/src/builtin_set.cpp
index 6ab298a0b..4e5f253e8 100644
--- a/src/builtin_set.cpp
+++ b/src/builtin_set.cpp
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ static int builtin_set_erase(const wchar_t *cmd, set_cmd_opts_t &opts, int argc,
     }
 
     if (idx_count == 0) {  // unset the var
-        retval = env_remove(dest, scope);
+        retval = parser.vars().remove(dest, scope);
         // Temporarily swallowing ENV_NOT_FOUND errors to prevent
         // breaking all tests that unset variables that aren't set.
         if (retval != ENV_NOT_FOUND) {
diff --git a/src/env.cpp b/src/env.cpp
index c147e22d7..6258c845a 100644
--- a/src/env.cpp
+++ b/src/env.cpp
@@ -1435,8 +1435,6 @@ int env_set_empty(const wcstring &key, env_mode_flags_t mode) {
     return env_stack_t::principal().set_empty(key, mode);
 }
 
-int env_remove(const wcstring &key, int mode) { return env_stack_t::principal().remove(key, mode); }
-
 void env_universal_barrier() { env_stack_t::principal().universal_barrier(); }
 
 wcstring env_get_pwd_slash() { return env_stack_t::principal().get_pwd_slash(); }
diff --git a/src/env.h b/src/env.h
index 83e6434e4..a10880d3b 100644
--- a/src/env.h
+++ b/src/env.h
@@ -155,16 +155,6 @@ int env_set_one(const wcstring &key, env_mode_flags_t mode, wcstring val);
 /// Sets the variable with the specified name to no values.
 int env_set_empty(const wcstring &key, env_mode_flags_t mode);
 
-/// Remove environment variable.
-///
-/// \param key The name of the variable to remove
-/// \param mode should be ENV_USER if this is a remove request from the user, 0 otherwise. If this
-/// is a user request, read-only variables can not be removed. The mode may also specify the scope
-/// of the variable that should be erased.
-///
-/// \return zero if the variable existed, and non-zero if the variable did not exist
-int env_remove(const wcstring &key, int mode);
-
 /// Synchronizes all universal variable changes: writes everything out, reads stuff in.
 void env_universal_barrier();
 
diff --git a/src/fish_tests.cpp b/src/fish_tests.cpp
index 6b6c8b6eb..6d241e22c 100644
--- a/src/fish_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/fish_tests.cpp
@@ -2762,7 +2762,7 @@ static void test_autosuggest_suggest_special() {
     perform_one_completion_cd_test(L"cd ~haha", L"ha/", __LINE__);
     perform_one_completion_cd_test(L"cd ~hahaha/", L"path1/", __LINE__);
 
-    env_remove(L"HOME", ENV_LOCAL | ENV_EXPORT);
+    parser_t::principal_parser().vars().remove(L"HOME", ENV_LOCAL | ENV_EXPORT);
     popd();
 }
 
@@ -4284,9 +4284,10 @@ static void test_highlighting() {
         {L"self%not", highlight_spec_param},
     });
 
+    auto &vars = parser_t::principal_parser().vars();
     // Verify variables and wildcards in commands using /bin/cat.
-    env_set(L"VARIABLE_IN_COMMAND", ENV_LOCAL, {L"a"});
-    env_set(L"VARIABLE_IN_COMMAND2", ENV_LOCAL, {L"at"});
+    vars.set(L"VARIABLE_IN_COMMAND", ENV_LOCAL, {L"a"});
+    vars.set(L"VARIABLE_IN_COMMAND2", ENV_LOCAL, {L"at"});
     highlight_tests.push_back(
         {{L"/bin/ca", highlight_spec_command, ns}, {L"*", highlight_spec_operator, ns}});
 
@@ -4319,7 +4320,7 @@ static void test_highlighting() {
         do_test(expected_colors.size() == text.size());
 
         std::vector<highlight_spec_t> colors(text.size());
-        highlight_shell(text, colors, 20, NULL, env_vars_snapshot_t::current());
+        highlight_shell(text, colors, 20, NULL, vars);
 
         if (expected_colors.size() != colors.size()) {
             err(L"Color vector has wrong size! Expected %lu, actual %lu", expected_colors.size(),
@@ -4338,8 +4339,8 @@ static void test_highlighting() {
             }
         }
     }
-    env_remove(L"VARIABLE_IN_COMMAND", ENV_DEFAULT);
-    env_remove(L"VARIABLE_IN_COMMAND2", ENV_DEFAULT);
+    vars.remove(L"VARIABLE_IN_COMMAND", ENV_DEFAULT);
+    vars.remove(L"VARIABLE_IN_COMMAND2", ENV_DEFAULT);
 }
 
 static void test_wcstring_tok() {