diff --git a/libmamba/include/mamba/api/configuration.hpp b/libmamba/include/mamba/api/configuration.hpp
index aa8aeaa84f..7d37ee7406 100644
--- a/libmamba/include/mamba/api/configuration.hpp
+++ b/libmamba/include/mamba/api/configuration.hpp
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ namespace mamba
 
     namespace detail
     {
-        auto get_default_root_prefix(fs::u8path& prefix) -> void;
+        auto get_root_prefix() -> fs::u8path;
 
         template <class T>
         bool ConfigurableImpl<T>::cli_configured() const
diff --git a/libmamba/src/api/configuration.cpp b/libmamba/src/api/configuration.cpp
index c2b8acb16a..e7fd2e5400 100644
--- a/libmamba/src/api/configuration.cpp
+++ b/libmamba/src/api/configuration.cpp
@@ -751,13 +751,23 @@ namespace mamba
             }
         }
 
+        auto get_root_prefix() -> fs::u8path
+        {
+            fs::u8path root_prefix = util::get_env("MAMBA_ROOT_PREFIX").value_or("");
+            if (root_prefix.empty())
+            {
+                get_default_root_prefix(root_prefix);
+            }
+            return root_prefix;
+        }
+
         void root_prefix_hook(Configuration& config, fs::u8path& prefix)
         {
             auto& env_name = config.at("env_name");
 
             if (prefix.empty())
             {
-                get_default_root_prefix(prefix);
+                prefix = get_root_prefix();
 
                 if (env_name.configured())
                 {
diff --git a/libmamba/src/core/context.cpp b/libmamba/src/core/context.cpp
index e58ad01b27..e436c59f97 100644
--- a/libmamba/src/core/context.cpp
+++ b/libmamba/src/core/context.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <spdlog/sinks/stdout_color_sinks.h>
 #include <spdlog/spdlog.h>
 
+#include "mamba/api/configuration.hpp"
 #include "mamba/core/context.hpp"
 #include "mamba/core/execution.hpp"
 #include "mamba/core/output.hpp"
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ namespace mamba
     Context::Context(const ContextOptions& options)
     {
         on_ci = static_cast<bool>(util::get_env("CI"));
-        prefix_params.root_prefix = util::get_env("MAMBA_ROOT_PREFIX").value_or("");
+        prefix_params.root_prefix = detail::get_root_prefix();
         prefix_params.conda_prefix = prefix_params.root_prefix;
 
         envs_dirs = { prefix_params.root_prefix / "envs" };
diff --git a/libmamba/src/download/downloader.cpp b/libmamba/src/download/downloader.cpp
index c7801b65bc..6f905fe68e 100644
--- a/libmamba/src/download/downloader.cpp
+++ b/libmamba/src/download/downloader.cpp
@@ -88,8 +88,7 @@ namespace mamba::download
                     // root prefix or the system CA certificates if the certificate is not present.
                     fs::u8path libmamba_library_path;
 
-                    fs::u8path root_prefix;
-                    detail::get_default_root_prefix(root_prefix);
+                    fs::u8path root_prefix = detail::get_root_prefix();
                     fs::u8path env_prefix_conda_cert = root_prefix / "ssl" / "cacert.pem";
 
                     LOG_INFO << "Checking for CA certificates at the root prefix: "
diff --git a/libmamba/tests/src/download/test_downloader.cpp b/libmamba/tests/src/download/test_downloader.cpp
index 2a37e7a63a..e5d0977cb5 100644
--- a/libmamba/tests/src/download/test_downloader.cpp
+++ b/libmamba/tests/src/download/test_downloader.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <catch2/catch_all.hpp>
 
+#include "mamba/api/configuration.hpp"
 #include "mamba/download/downloader.hpp"
 
 #include "mambatests.hpp"
@@ -78,9 +79,8 @@ namespace mamba
             download::MultiResult res = download::download(dl_request, context.mirrors, context);
             REQUIRE(context.remote_fetch_params.curl_initialized);
 
-            // Check that the path is correct
             auto certificates = context.remote_fetch_params.ssl_verify;
-            const fs::u8path root_prefix = context.prefix_params.root_prefix;
+            const fs::u8path root_prefix = detail::get_root_prefix();
             auto expected_certificates = root_prefix / "ssl" / "cacert.pem";
             REQUIRE(certificates == expected_certificates);
         }