diff --git a/boa/cli/boa.py b/boa/cli/boa.py
index b10a1bf9..1a26ec8e 100644
--- a/boa/cli/boa.py
+++ b/boa/cli/boa.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 from boa.core.config import init_global_config
 from boa._version import __version__
-from mamba.utils import init_api_context
+from boa.core.utils import init_api_context
 
 from conda_build.conda_interface import cc_conda_build
 
diff --git a/boa/cli/mambabuild.py b/boa/cli/mambabuild.py
index 3c777874..68b7d3fb 100644
--- a/boa/cli/mambabuild.py
+++ b/boa/cli/mambabuild.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 from boa.core.solver import MambaSolver
 from boa.core.utils import normalize_subdir
-from mamba.utils import init_api_context
+from boa.core.utils import init_api_context
 from boa.core.config import boa_config
 
 only_dot_or_digit_re = re.compile(r"^[\d\.]+$")
diff --git a/boa/core/solver.py b/boa/core/solver.py
index ef7cf9d1..d8aa2efc 100644
--- a/boa/core/solver.py
+++ b/boa/core/solver.py
@@ -20,17 +20,14 @@
 from conda.core.package_cache_data import PackageCacheData
 
 import libmambapy
-import mamba
-from mamba.utils import get_index, load_channels, to_package_record_from_subjson
 
+from boa.core.utils import get_index, load_channels, to_package_record_from_subjson
 from boa.core.config import boa_config
 
 console = boa_config.console
 
 solver_cache = {}
 
-MAMBA_17_UP = mamba.version_info >= (0, 17, 0)
-
 
 def refresh_solvers():
     for _, v in solver_cache.items():
diff --git a/boa/core/utils.py b/boa/core/utils.py
index aa169e59..3b632693 100644
--- a/boa/core/utils.py
+++ b/boa/core/utils.py
@@ -1,18 +1,30 @@
 # Copyright (C) 2021, QuantStack
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 
+from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function, unicode_literals
+
 import collections
 import sys
 import os
 import typing
+import json
+import urllib.parse
 
 from conda.base.context import context
 from conda_build import utils
 from conda_build.config import get_or_merge_config
 from conda_build.variants import find_config_files, parse_config_file, combine_specs
 from conda_build import __version__ as cb_version
+from conda.base.constants import ChannelPriority
+from conda.gateways.connection.session import CondaHttpAuth
+from conda.core.index import check_allowlist
+from conda.models.channel import Channel as CondaChannel
+from conda.models.records import PackageRecord
+from conda.common.url import join_url
 
 from boa.core.config import boa_config
+import libmambapy as api
+
 
 if typing.TYPE_CHECKING:
     from typing import Any
@@ -149,3 +161,255 @@ def get_sys_vars_stubs(target_platform):
             "BUILD",
         ]
     return res
+
+
+def get_index(
+    channel_urls=(),
+    prepend=True,
+    platform=None,
+    use_local=False,
+    use_cache=False,
+    unknown=None,
+    prefix=None,
+    repodata_fn="repodata.json",
+):
+    if isinstance(platform, str):
+        platform = [platform, "noarch"]
+
+    all_channels = []
+    if use_local:
+        all_channels.append("local")
+    all_channels.extend(channel_urls)
+    if prepend:
+        all_channels.extend(context.channels)
+    check_allowlist(all_channels)
+
+    # Remove duplicates but retain order
+    all_channels = list(collections.OrderedDict.fromkeys(all_channels))
+
+    dlist = api.DownloadTargetList()
+
+    index = []
+
+    def fixup_channel_spec(spec):
+        at_count = spec.count("@")
+        if at_count > 1:
+            first_at = spec.find("@")
+            spec = (
+                spec[:first_at]
+                + urllib.parse.quote(spec[first_at])
+                + spec[first_at + 1 :]
+            )
+        if platform:
+            spec = spec + "[" + ",".join(platform) + "]"
+        return spec
+
+    all_channels = list(map(fixup_channel_spec, all_channels))
+    pkgs_dirs = api.MultiPackageCache(context.pkgs_dirs)
+    api.create_cache_dir(str(pkgs_dirs.first_writable_path))
+
+    for channel in api.get_channels(all_channels):
+        for channel_platform, url in channel.platform_urls(with_credentials=True):
+            full_url = CondaHttpAuth.add_binstar_token(url)
+
+            sd = api.SubdirData(
+                channel, channel_platform, full_url, pkgs_dirs, repodata_fn
+            )
+
+            index.append(
+                (sd, {"platform": channel_platform, "url": url, "channel": channel})
+            )
+            dlist.add(sd)
+
+    is_downloaded = dlist.download(api.MAMBA_DOWNLOAD_FAILFAST)
+
+    if not is_downloaded:
+        raise RuntimeError("Error downloading repodata.")
+
+    return index
+
+
+def load_channels(
+    pool,
+    channels,
+    repos,
+    has_priority=None,
+    prepend=True,
+    platform=None,
+    use_local=False,
+    use_cache=True,
+    repodata_fn="repodata.json",
+):
+    index = get_index(
+        channel_urls=channels,
+        prepend=prepend,
+        platform=platform,
+        use_local=use_local,
+        repodata_fn=repodata_fn,
+        use_cache=use_cache,
+    )
+
+    if has_priority is None:
+        has_priority = context.channel_priority in [
+            ChannelPriority.STRICT,
+            ChannelPriority.FLEXIBLE,
+        ]
+
+    subprio_index = len(index)
+    if has_priority:
+        # first, count unique channels
+        n_channels = len(set([entry["channel"].canonical_name for _, entry in index]))
+        current_channel = index[0][1]["channel"].canonical_name
+        channel_prio = n_channels
+
+    for subdir, entry in index:
+        # add priority here
+        if has_priority:
+            if entry["channel"].canonical_name != current_channel:
+                channel_prio -= 1
+                current_channel = entry["channel"].canonical_name
+            priority = channel_prio
+        else:
+            priority = 0
+        if has_priority:
+            subpriority = 0
+        else:
+            subpriority = subprio_index
+            subprio_index -= 1
+
+        if not subdir.loaded() and entry["platform"] != "noarch":
+            # ignore non-loaded subdir if channel is != noarch
+            continue
+
+        if context.verbosity != 0 and not context.json:
+            print(
+                "Channel: {}, platform: {}, prio: {} : {}".format(
+                    entry["channel"], entry["platform"], priority, subpriority
+                )
+            )
+            print("Cache path: ", subdir.cache_path())
+
+        repo = subdir.create_repo(pool)
+        repo.set_priority(priority, subpriority)
+        repos.append(repo)
+
+    return index
+
+
+def init_api_context(use_mamba_experimental=False):
+    api_ctx = api.Context()
+
+    api_ctx.json = context.json
+    api_ctx.dry_run = context.dry_run
+    if context.json:
+        context.always_yes = True
+        context.quiet = True
+        if use_mamba_experimental:
+            context.json = False
+
+    api_ctx.verbosity = context.verbosity
+    api_ctx.set_verbosity(context.verbosity)
+    api_ctx.quiet = context.quiet
+    api_ctx.offline = context.offline
+    api_ctx.local_repodata_ttl = context.local_repodata_ttl
+    api_ctx.use_index_cache = context.use_index_cache
+    api_ctx.always_yes = context.always_yes
+    api_ctx.channels = context.channels
+    api_ctx.platform = context.subdir
+    # Conda uses a frozendict here
+    api_ctx.proxy_servers = dict(context.proxy_servers)
+
+    if "MAMBA_EXTRACT_THREADS" in os.environ:
+        try:
+            max_threads = int(os.environ["MAMBA_EXTRACT_THREADS"])
+            api_ctx.extract_threads = max_threads
+        except ValueError:
+            v = os.environ["MAMBA_EXTRACT_THREADS"]
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Invalid conversion of env variable 'MAMBA_EXTRACT_THREADS' from value '{v}'"
+            )
+
+    def get_base_url(url, name=None):
+        tmp = url.rsplit("/", 1)[0]
+        if name:
+            if tmp.endswith(name):
+                return tmp.rsplit("/", 1)[0]
+        return tmp
+
+    api_ctx.channel_alias = str(
+        get_base_url(context.channel_alias.url(with_credentials=True))
+    )
+
+    additional_custom_channels = {}
+    for el in context.custom_channels:
+        if context.custom_channels[el].canonical_name not in ["local", "defaults"]:
+            additional_custom_channels[el] = get_base_url(
+                context.custom_channels[el].url(with_credentials=True), el
+            )
+    api_ctx.custom_channels = additional_custom_channels
+
+    additional_custom_multichannels = {}
+    for el in context.custom_multichannels:
+        if el not in ["defaults", "local"]:
+            additional_custom_multichannels[el] = []
+            for c in context.custom_multichannels[el]:
+                additional_custom_multichannels[el].append(
+                    get_base_url(c.url(with_credentials=True))
+                )
+    api_ctx.custom_multichannels = additional_custom_multichannels
+
+    api_ctx.default_channels = [
+        get_base_url(x.url(with_credentials=True)) for x in context.default_channels
+    ]
+
+    if context.ssl_verify is False:
+        api_ctx.ssl_verify = "<false>"
+    elif context.ssl_verify is not True:
+        api_ctx.ssl_verify = context.ssl_verify
+    api_ctx.target_prefix = context.target_prefix
+    api_ctx.root_prefix = context.root_prefix
+    api_ctx.conda_prefix = context.conda_prefix
+    api_ctx.pkgs_dirs = context.pkgs_dirs
+    api_ctx.envs_dirs = context.envs_dirs
+
+    api_ctx.connect_timeout_secs = int(round(context.remote_connect_timeout_secs))
+    api_ctx.max_retries = context.remote_max_retries
+    api_ctx.retry_backoff = context.remote_backoff_factor
+    api_ctx.add_pip_as_python_dependency = context.add_pip_as_python_dependency
+    api_ctx.use_only_tar_bz2 = context.use_only_tar_bz2
+
+    if context.channel_priority is ChannelPriority.STRICT:
+        api_ctx.channel_priority = api.ChannelPriority.kStrict
+    elif context.channel_priority is ChannelPriority.FLEXIBLE:
+        api_ctx.channel_priority = api.ChannelPriority.kFlexible
+    elif context.channel_priority is ChannelPriority.DISABLED:
+        api_ctx.channel_priority = api.ChannelPriority.kDisabled
+
+
+def to_conda_channel(channel, platform):
+    if channel.scheme == "file":
+        return CondaChannel.from_value(
+            channel.platform_url(platform, with_credentials=False)
+        )
+
+    return CondaChannel(
+        channel.scheme,
+        channel.auth,
+        channel.location,
+        channel.token,
+        channel.name,
+        platform,
+        channel.package_filename,
+    )
+
+
+def to_package_record_from_subjson(entry, pkg, jsn_string):
+    channel_url = entry["url"]
+    info = json.loads(jsn_string)
+    info["fn"] = pkg
+    info["channel"] = to_conda_channel(entry["channel"], entry["platform"])
+    info["url"] = join_url(channel_url, pkg)
+    if not info.get("subdir"):
+        info["subdir"] = entry["platform"]
+    package_record = PackageRecord(**info)
+    return package_record
diff --git a/tests/env.yml b/tests/env.yml
index c71c80d2..2090fae7 100644
--- a/tests/env.yml
+++ b/tests/env.yml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ channels:
 dependencies:
   - python>=3.7
   - pip
-  - mamba
+  - conda
   - libmambapy <=1.4.2
   - pytest
   - "conda-build>=3.20"