diff --git a/tfexec/cmd.go b/tfexec/cmd.go
index 083dc4d5..5e160324 100644
--- a/tfexec/cmd.go
+++ b/tfexec/cmd.go
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ func (tf *Terraform) buildEnv(mergeEnv map[string]string) []string {
 	env[automationEnvVar] = "1"
 
 	// force usage of workspace methods for switching
-	env[workspaceEnvVar] = ""
+	delete(env, workspaceEnvVar)
 
 	if tf.disablePluginTLS {
 		env[disablePluginTLSEnvVar] = "1"
diff --git a/tfexec/cmd_test.go b/tfexec/cmd_test.go
index 5aa6fae6..c86dae30 100644
--- a/tfexec/cmd_test.go
+++ b/tfexec/cmd_test.go
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ func defaultEnv() []string {
 		"TF_LOG_CORE=",
 		"TF_LOG_PATH=",
 		"TF_LOG_PROVIDER=",
-		"TF_WORKSPACE=",
 	}
 }