diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/logopt/log_opts.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/logopt/log_opts.go
index 97ebf56944..9fee83426f 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/logopt/log_opts.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/logopt/log_opts.go
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ func uriIfy(f string) DocumentURI {
 // Return filename, replacing a first occurrence of $GOROOT with the
 // actual value of the GOROOT (because LSP does not speak "$GOROOT").
 func uprootedPath(filename string) string {
-	if !strings.HasPrefix(filename, "$GOROOT/") {
+	if buildcfg.GOROOT == "" || !strings.HasPrefix(filename, "$GOROOT/") {
 		return filename
 	}
 	return buildcfg.GOROOT + filename[len("$GOROOT"):]
diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/reader.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/reader.go
index 62875ba073..01e795183d 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/reader.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/noder/reader.go
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ func (pr *pkgReader) posBaseIdx(idx int) *src.PosBase {
 	// require being more consistent about when we use native vs UNIX
 	// file paths.
 	const dollarGOROOT = "$GOROOT"
-	if strings.HasPrefix(filename, dollarGOROOT) {
+	if buildcfg.GOROOT != "" && strings.HasPrefix(filename, dollarGOROOT) {
 		filename = buildcfg.GOROOT + filename[len(dollarGOROOT):]
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/cmd/internal/objabi/line.go b/src/cmd/internal/objabi/line.go
index 0b1e0bb181..beee1291b5 100644
--- a/src/cmd/internal/objabi/line.go
+++ b/src/cmd/internal/objabi/line.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func AbsFile(dir, file, rewrites string) string {
 	}
 
 	abs, rewritten := ApplyRewrites(abs, rewrites)
-	if !rewritten && hasPathPrefix(abs, buildcfg.GOROOT) {
+	if !rewritten && buildcfg.GOROOT != "" && hasPathPrefix(abs, buildcfg.GOROOT) {
 		abs = "$GOROOT" + abs[len(buildcfg.GOROOT):]
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/lib.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/lib.go
index a81232b2a4..61b1fcbecf 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/lib.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/lib.go
@@ -390,7 +390,9 @@ func libinit(ctxt *Link) {
 		suffix = "asan"
 	}
 
-	Lflag(ctxt, filepath.Join(buildcfg.GOROOT, "pkg", fmt.Sprintf("%s_%s%s%s", buildcfg.GOOS, buildcfg.GOARCH, suffixsep, suffix)))
+	if buildcfg.GOROOT != "" {
+		Lflag(ctxt, filepath.Join(buildcfg.GOROOT, "pkg", fmt.Sprintf("%s_%s%s%s", buildcfg.GOOS, buildcfg.GOARCH, suffixsep, suffix)))
+	}
 
 	mayberemoveoutfile()
 
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/main.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/main.go
index d13c3ff8b6..14f83566f5 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/main.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/main.go
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ func Main(arch *sys.Arch, theArch Arch) {
 
 	final := gorootFinal()
 	addstrdata1(ctxt, "runtime.defaultGOROOT="+final)
-	addstrdata1(ctxt, "internal/buildcfg.defaultGOROOT="+final)
 
 	buildVersion := buildcfg.Version
 	if goexperiment := buildcfg.Experiment.String(); goexperiment != "" {
diff --git a/src/internal/buildcfg/cfg.go b/src/internal/buildcfg/cfg.go
index 68c10a2824..1066d0c189 100644
--- a/src/internal/buildcfg/cfg.go
+++ b/src/internal/buildcfg/cfg.go
@@ -15,13 +15,12 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 )
 
 var (
-	defaultGOROOT string // set by linker
-
-	GOROOT   = envOr("GOROOT", defaultGOROOT)
+	GOROOT   = runtime.GOROOT() // cached for efficiency
 	GOARCH   = envOr("GOARCH", defaultGOARCH)
 	GOOS     = envOr("GOOS", defaultGOOS)
 	GO386    = envOr("GO386", defaultGO386)