diff --git a/src/ServerlessOffline.js b/src/ServerlessOffline.js
index 056b770e1..8a70b6680 100644
--- a/src/ServerlessOffline.js
+++ b/src/ServerlessOffline.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import process, { env, exit } from 'node:process'
+import process, { exit } from 'node:process'
 import { log } from '@serverless/utils/log.js'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
 import {
@@ -59,9 +59,6 @@ export default class ServerlessOffline {
 
   // Entry point for the plugin (sls offline) when running 'sls offline start'
   async start() {
-    // Put here so available everywhere, not just in handlers
-    env.IS_OFFLINE = 'true'
-
     this.#mergeOptions()
 
     const { httpEvents, lambdas, scheduleEvents, webSocketEvents } =
diff --git a/src/lambda/LambdaFunction.js b/src/lambda/LambdaFunction.js
index dde67b60e..308552ade 100644
--- a/src/lambda/LambdaFunction.js
+++ b/src/lambda/LambdaFunction.js
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ export default class LambdaFunction {
       ...providerEnv,
       ...functionDefinitionEnv,
       _HANDLER: handler, // TODO is this available in AWS?
-      IS_OFFLINE: true,
+      IS_OFFLINE: 'true',
     }
   }