diff --git a/crates/cli/src/cli.rs b/crates/cli/src/cli.rs
index 8a2394372faf17281babf2cc9769648d64cd67be..1a3ce059b8116ac7438f3eb0330b47660cc863de 100644
--- a/crates/cli/src/cli.rs
+++ b/crates/cli/src/cli.rs
@@ -34,4 +34,7 @@ pub enum CliResponse {
 
 /// When Zed started not as an *.app but as a binary (e.g. local development),
 /// there's a possibility to tell it to behave "regularly".
+///
+/// Note that in the main zed binary, this variable is unset after it's read for the first time,
+/// therefore it should always be accessed through the `FORCE_CLI_MODE` static.
 pub const FORCE_CLI_MODE_ENV_VAR_NAME: &str = "ZED_FORCE_CLI_MODE";
diff --git a/crates/zed/src/main.rs b/crates/zed/src/main.rs
index eccf6b51e01922590752a47589c1cdc1303df966..3bf3fd190f61ffead59d08d4da556468e2bb1fcf 100644
--- a/crates/zed/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/zed/src/main.rs
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ use std::{
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
     process,
     rc::Rc,
-    sync::{Arc, OnceLock},
+    sync::{Arc, LazyLock, OnceLock},
     time::Instant,
 };
 use theme::{ActiveTheme, GlobalTheme, ThemeRegistry};
@@ -1577,8 +1577,14 @@ fn init_paths() -> HashMap<io::ErrorKind, Vec<&'static Path>> {
     })
 }
 
+pub(crate) static FORCE_CLI_MODE: LazyLock<bool> = LazyLock::new(|| {
+    let env_var = std::env::var(FORCE_CLI_MODE_ENV_VAR_NAME).ok().is_some();
+    unsafe { std::env::remove_var(FORCE_CLI_MODE_ENV_VAR_NAME) };
+    env_var
+});
+
 fn stdout_is_a_pty() -> bool {
-    std::env::var(FORCE_CLI_MODE_ENV_VAR_NAME).ok().is_none() && io::stdout().is_terminal()
+    !*FORCE_CLI_MODE && io::stdout().is_terminal()
 }
 
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]