diff --git a/ci/cpu/upload.sh b/ci/cpu/upload.sh
index 5fe35ef7466..82c58673605 100755
--- a/ci/cpu/upload.sh
+++ b/ci/cpu/upload.sh
@@ -33,19 +33,6 @@ if [[ "$BUILD_LIBCUDF" == "1" && "$UPLOAD_LIBCUDF" == "1" ]]; then
   export LIBCUDF_FILES=$(conda build --no-build-id --croot "${CONDA_BLD_DIR}" conda/recipes/libcudf --output)
   LIBCUDF_FILES=$(echo "$LIBCUDF_FILES" | sed 's/.*libcudf-example.*//') # skip libcudf-example pkg upload
   gpuci_retry anaconda -t ${MY_UPLOAD_KEY} upload -u ${CONDA_USERNAME:-rapidsai} ${LABEL_OPTION} --skip-existing --no-progress $LIBCUDF_FILES
-
-  # since strings_udf compiles libcudf code, we require it be built in the same environment as libcudf
-  # however since libcudf is agnostic to the python version that is present, we must vary it explicitly
-  # here if we want packages for both python 3.8 and 3.9
-  export STRINGS_UDF_FILE=$(conda build --croot "${CONDA_BLD_DIR}" conda/recipes/strings_udf --python=3.8 --output)
-  test -e ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE}
-  echo "Upload strings_udf (python 3.8): ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE}"
-  gpuci_retry anaconda -t ${MY_UPLOAD_KEY} upload -u ${CONDA_USERNAME:-rapidsai} ${LABEL_OPTION} --skip-existing ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE} --no-progress
-
-  export STRINGS_UDF_FILE=$(conda build --croot "${CONDA_BLD_DIR}" conda/recipes/strings_udf --python=3.9 --output)
-  test -e ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE}
-  echo "Upload strings_udf (python 3.9): ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE}"
-  gpuci_retry anaconda -t ${MY_UPLOAD_KEY} upload -u ${CONDA_USERNAME:-rapidsai} ${LABEL_OPTION} --skip-existing ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE} --no-progress
 fi
 
 if [[ "$BUILD_CUDF" == "1" && "$UPLOAD_CUDF" == "1" ]]; then
@@ -54,6 +41,11 @@ if [[ "$BUILD_CUDF" == "1" && "$UPLOAD_CUDF" == "1" ]]; then
   echo "Upload cudf: ${CUDF_FILE}"
   gpuci_retry anaconda -t ${MY_UPLOAD_KEY} upload -u ${CONDA_USERNAME:-rapidsai} ${LABEL_OPTION} --skip-existing ${CUDF_FILE} --no-progress
 
+  export STRINGS_UDF_FILE=$(conda build --croot "${CONDA_BLD_DIR}" conda/recipes/strings_udf --python=$PYTHON --output -c "${CONDA_BLD_DIR}")
+  test -e ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE}
+  echo "Upload strings_udf: ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE}"
+  gpuci_retry anaconda -t ${MY_UPLOAD_KEY} upload -u ${CONDA_USERNAME:-rapidsai} ${LABEL_OPTION} --skip-existing ${STRINGS_UDF_FILE} --no-progress
+
   export DASK_CUDF_FILE=$(conda build --croot "${CONDA_BLD_DIR}" conda/recipes/dask-cudf --python=$PYTHON --output)
   test -e ${DASK_CUDF_FILE}
   echo "Upload dask-cudf: ${DASK_CUDF_FILE}"