diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index babeb07..1304513 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ install_requires =
     gunicorn
     httpx
     itsdangerous
-    pydantic-settings
     python-dotenv
     teuthology @ git+https://github.com/ceph/teuthology#egg=teuthology[test]
 
diff --git a/src/teuthology_api/config.py b/src/teuthology_api/config.py
deleted file mode 100644
index e1b9be2..0000000
--- a/src/teuthology_api/config.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-from functools import lru_cache
-from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, SettingsConfigDict
-from dotenv import load_dotenv
-
-load_dotenv()
-
-
-class APISettings(BaseSettings):
-    """
-    Class for API settings.
-    """
-
-    deployment: str = ""
-    pulpito_url: str = ""
-    paddles_url: str = ""
-
-    gh_client_id: str = ""
-    gh_client_secret: str = ""
-    gh_token_url: str = ""
-    gh_authorization_base_url: str = ""
-    gh_fetch_membership_url: str = ""
-
-    session_secret_key: str = ""
-    archive_dir: str = ""
-    teuthology_path: str = ""
-
-    model_config = SettingsConfigDict(
-        env_file=".env", env_file_encoding="utf-8", extra="ignore"
-    )
-    # TODO: team names need to be changed below when created
-    admin_team: str = "ceph"  # ceph's github team with *sudo* access to sepia
-    teuth_team: str = "teuth"  # ceph's github team with access to sepia
-
-
-@lru_cache()
-def get_api_settings() -> APISettings:
-    """
-    Returns the API settings.
-    """
-    return APISettings()  # reads variables from environment
-
-
-settings = get_api_settings()
diff --git a/src/teuthology_api/main.py b/src/teuthology_api/main.py
index 93e0678..c1d8afb 100644
--- a/src/teuthology_api/main.py
+++ b/src/teuthology_api/main.py
@@ -2,16 +2,17 @@
 import os
 from fastapi import FastAPI, Request
 from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from starlette.middleware.sessions import SessionMiddleware
 
-from teuthology_api.config import settings
 from teuthology_api.routes import suite, kill, login, logout
 
+load_dotenv()
 
-DEPLOYMENT = settings.deployment
-SESSION_SECRET_KEY = settings.session_secret_key
-PULPITO_URL = settings.pulpito_url
-PADDLES_URL = settings.paddles_url
+DEPLOYMENT = os.getenv("DEPLOYMENT")
+SESSION_SECRET_KEY = os.getenv("SESSION_SECRET_KEY")
+PULPITO_URL = os.getenv("PULPITO_URL")
+PADDLES_URL = os.getenv("PADDLES_URL")
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 app = FastAPI()
diff --git a/src/teuthology_api/routes/login.py b/src/teuthology_api/routes/login.py
index e1b92d6..c4916a2 100644
--- a/src/teuthology_api/routes/login.py
+++ b/src/teuthology_api/routes/login.py
@@ -2,16 +2,17 @@
 import os
 from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, Request
 from fastapi.responses import RedirectResponse
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 import httpx
-from teuthology_api.config import settings
 
+load_dotenv()
 
-GH_CLIENT_ID = settings.gh_client_id
-GH_CLIENT_SECRET = settings.gh_client_secret
-GH_AUTHORIZATION_BASE_URL = settings.gh_authorization_base_url
-GH_TOKEN_URL = settings.gh_token_url
-GH_FETCH_MEMBERSHIP_URL = settings.gh_fetch_membership_url
-PULPITO_URL = settings.pulpito_url
+GH_CLIENT_ID = os.getenv("GH_CLIENT_ID")
+GH_CLIENT_SECRET = os.getenv("GH_CLIENT_SECRET")
+GH_AUTHORIZATION_BASE_URL = os.getenv("GH_AUTHORIZATION_BASE_URL")
+GH_TOKEN_URL = os.getenv("GH_TOKEN_URL")
+GH_FETCH_MEMBERSHIP_URL = os.getenv("GH_FETCH_MEMBERSHIP_URL")
+PULPITO_URL = os.getenv("PULPITO_URL")
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 router = APIRouter(
diff --git a/src/teuthology_api/routes/logout.py b/src/teuthology_api/routes/logout.py
index 0599f99..cdbe5ca 100644
--- a/src/teuthology_api/routes/logout.py
+++ b/src/teuthology_api/routes/logout.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import logging
+import os
 from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, Request
 from fastapi.responses import RedirectResponse
-from teuthology_api.config import settings
 
-PULPITO_URL = settings.pulpito_url
+PULPITO_URL = os.getenv("PULPITO_URL")
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 router = APIRouter(
diff --git a/src/teuthology_api/services/helpers.py b/src/teuthology_api/services/helpers.py
index ef7abc3..a86d22c 100644
--- a/src/teuthology_api/services/helpers.py
+++ b/src/teuthology_api/services/helpers.py
@@ -5,15 +5,16 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from fastapi import HTTPException, Request
-
-from teuthology_api.config import settings
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 
 import teuthology
 import requests  # Note: import requests after teuthology
 from requests.exceptions import HTTPError
 
-PADDLES_URL = settings.paddles_url
-ARCHIVE_DIR = settings.archive_dir
+load_dotenv()
+
+PADDLES_URL = os.getenv("PADDLES_URL")
+ARCHIVE_DIR = os.getenv("ARCHIVE_DIR")
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/src/teuthology_api/services/kill.py b/src/teuthology_api/services/kill.py
index e755c6a..4188d23 100644
--- a/src/teuthology_api/services/kill.py
+++ b/src/teuthology_api/services/kill.py
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 import logging
+import os
 import subprocess
 
 from fastapi import HTTPException, Request
 
-from teuthology_api.config import settings
 from teuthology_api.services.helpers import get_username, get_run_details
 
 
-TEUTHOLOGY_PATH = settings.teuthology_path
+TEUTHOLOGY_PATH = os.getenv("TEUTHOLOGY_PATH")
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)