diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 19f7c87c32ba..b83620fc1d65 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -169,22 +169,6 @@ func getFlags(defaultFlags globalFlags, env map[string]string) globalFlags {
 	return result
 }
 
-func parseEnvKeyValue(kv string) (string, string) {
-	if idx := strings.IndexRune(kv, '='); idx != -1 {
-		return kv[:idx], kv[idx+1:]
-	}
-	return kv, ""
-}
-
-func buildEnvMap(environ []string) map[string]string {
-	env := make(map[string]string, len(environ))
-	for _, kv := range environ {
-		k, v := parseEnvKeyValue(kv)
-		env[k] = v
-	}
-	return env
-}
-
 // This is to keep all fields needed for the main/root k6 command
 type rootCommand struct {
 	globalState *globalState
diff --git a/cmd/runtime_options.go b/cmd/runtime_options.go
index 2a62afc80303..933d0dec5614 100644
--- a/cmd/runtime_options.go
+++ b/cmd/runtime_options.go
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func getRuntimeOptions(flags *pflag.FlagSet, environment map[string]string) (lib
 		return opts, err
 	}
 	for _, kv := range envVars {
-		k, v := parseEnvKeyValue(kv)
+		k, v := lib.ParseEnvKeyValue(kv)
 		// Allow only alphanumeric ASCII variable names for now
 		if !userEnvVarName.MatchString(k) {
 			return opts, fmt.Errorf("invalid environment variable name '%s'", k)
diff --git a/lib/env.go b/lib/env.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a5484d7ae21d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/env.go
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package lib
+
+import "strings"
+
+// ParseEnvKeyValue splits an environment variable string into key and value.
+func ParseEnvKeyValue(kv string) (string, string) {
+	if idx := strings.IndexRune(kv, '='); idx != -1 {
+		return kv[:idx], kv[idx+1:]
+	}
+	return kv, ""
+}
+
+// BuildEnvMap returns a map from raw environment values, such as returned from
+// os.Environ().
+func BuildEnvMap(environ []string) map[string]string {
+	env := make(map[string]string, len(environ))
+	for _, kv := range environ {
+		k, v := ParseEnvKeyValue(kv)
+		env[k] = v
+	}
+	return env
+}