diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index faf9f8d4a..d9c2fd5af 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@ export interface Config {
    *   Node binary version requirements are not met.
    * - 'async-listener' uses an implementation of CLS on top of the
    *   `continuation-local-storage` module.
-   * - 'auto' behaves like 'async-hooks' on Node 8+ when the
-   *   GCLOUD_TRACE_NEW_CONTEXT env variable is set, and 'async-listener'
+   * - 'auto' behaves like 'async-hooks' on Node 8+, and 'async-listener'
    *   otherwise.
    * - 'none' disables CLS completely.
    * The 'auto' mechanism is used by default if this configuration option is
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 6a163134a..67b593af2 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -78,8 +78,7 @@ function initConfig(projectConfig: Forceable<Config>):
 
   // If the CLS mechanism is set to auto-determined, decide now what it should
   // be.
-  const ahAvailable = semver.satisfies(process.version, '>=8') &&
-      process.env.GCLOUD_TRACE_NEW_CONTEXT;
+  const ahAvailable = semver.satisfies(process.version, '>=8');
   if (config.clsMechanism === 'auto') {
     config.clsMechanism = ahAvailable ? 'async-hooks' : 'async-listener';
   }