diff --git a/cubed/runtime/executors/modal.py b/cubed/runtime/executors/modal.py
index 60c3fccf..68d1b24f 100644
--- a/cubed/runtime/executors/modal.py
+++ b/cubed/runtime/executors/modal.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 from cubed.spec import Spec
 
 RUNTIME_MEMORY_MIB = 2000
-FORCE_BUILD = os.getenv("CUBED_MODAL_FORCE_BUILD") is not None
 
 stub = modal.Stub("cubed-stub")
 
@@ -40,8 +39,7 @@
             "tenacity",
             "toolz",
             "zarr",
-        ],
-        force_build=FORCE_BUILD,
+        ]
     )
     gcp_image = modal.Image.debian_slim().pip_install(
         [
@@ -54,8 +52,7 @@
             "tenacity",
             "toolz",
             "zarr",
-        ],
-        force_build=FORCE_BUILD,
+        ]
     )