diff --git a/receiver/hostmetricsreceiver/factory.go b/receiver/hostmetricsreceiver/factory.go
index 5a22d2385144..e0df87763485 100644
--- a/receiver/hostmetricsreceiver/factory.go
+++ b/receiver/hostmetricsreceiver/factory.go
@@ -123,17 +123,12 @@ func createHostMetricsScraper(ctx context.Context, set receiver.CreateSettings,
 
 type environment interface {
 	Lookup(k string) (string, bool)
-	Set(k, v string) error
 }
 
 type osEnv struct{}
 
 var _ environment = (*osEnv)(nil)
 
-func (e *osEnv) Set(k, v string) error {
-	return os.Setenv(k, v)
-}
-
 func (e *osEnv) Lookup(k string) (string, bool) {
 	return os.LookupEnv(k)
 }