diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.native/src/org/eclipse/cdt/utils/spawner/EnvironmentReader.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.native/src/org/eclipse/cdt/utils/spawner/EnvironmentReader.java
index baad1b49302..ae005dc2e7b 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.native/src/org/eclipse/cdt/utils/spawner/EnvironmentReader.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core.native/src/org/eclipse/cdt/utils/spawner/EnvironmentReader.java
@@ -13,51 +13,41 @@
  *******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.cdt.utils.spawner;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.Platform;
 
 /**
- * This class provides environment variables supplied as {@link Properties} class.
+ * This class provides OS owned environment variables supplied as {@link Properties} class.
  *
  * @noextend This class is not intended to be subclassed by clients.
  * @noinstantiate This class is not intended to be instantiated by clients.
  */
 public class EnvironmentReader {
-	private static Properties envVars = null;
-	private static Properties envVarsNormalized = null;
-	private static ArrayList<String> rawVars = null;
+	private static Properties envVars;
+	private static List<String> toUppercaseEnvironmentVars = Arrays.asList("PATH"); //$NON-NLS-1$
 
-	private static synchronized void init() {
-		if (envVars == null) {
-			envVars = new Properties();
-			// on Windows environment variable names are case-insensitive
-			if (Platform.getOS().equals(Platform.OS_WIN32)) {
-				envVarsNormalized = new Properties();
-			} else {
-				envVarsNormalized = envVars;
+	static {
+		boolean isWindows = Platform.OS_WIN32.equals(Platform.getOS());
+		envVars = new Properties();
+		Map<String, String> envMap = System.getenv();
+		for (Map.Entry<String, String> curEnvVar : envMap.entrySet()) {
+			String key = curEnvVar.getKey();
+			String value = curEnvVar.getValue();
+			if (isWindows && toUppercaseEnvironmentVars.contains(key.toUpperCase())) {
+				key = key.toUpperCase();
 			}
-			rawVars = new ArrayList<>();
-			Map<String, String> envMap = System.getenv();
-			for (String var : envMap.keySet()) {
-				String value = envMap.get(var);
-				envVars.setProperty(var, value);
-				if (envVarsNormalized != envVars) {
-					envVarsNormalized.setProperty(var.toUpperCase(), value);
-				}
-				rawVars.add(var + "=" + value); //$NON-NLS-1$
-			}
-			rawVars.trimToSize();
+			envVars.setProperty(key, value);
 		}
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * @return list of environment variables.
+	 * @return a clone of the list of environment variables.
 	 */
 	public static Properties getEnvVars() {
-		init();
 		return (Properties) envVars.clone();
 	}
 
@@ -66,7 +56,6 @@ public class EnvironmentReader {
 	 * @return value of environment variable.
 	 */
 	public static String getEnvVar(String key) {
-		init();
-		return envVarsNormalized.getProperty(key);
+		return envVars.getProperty(key);
 	}
 }