diff --git a/src/main/shell-session/shell-session.ts b/src/main/shell-session/shell-session.ts
index eaa95f0fd8..039caa44ce 100644
--- a/src/main/shell-session/shell-session.ts
+++ b/src/main/shell-session/shell-session.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 import type { Cluster } from "../cluster";
 import { Kubectl } from "../kubectl";
 import type * as WebSocket from "ws";
-import shellEnv from "shell-env";
+import { shellEnv } from "../utils/shell-env";
 import { app } from "electron";
 import { clearKubeconfigEnvVars } from "../utils/clear-kube-env-vars";
 import path from "path";
diff --git a/src/main/shell-sync.ts b/src/main/shell-sync.ts
index ff38ede3bb..d699969224 100644
--- a/src/main/shell-sync.ts
+++ b/src/main/shell-sync.ts
@@ -19,10 +19,9 @@
  * CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
  */
 
-import shellEnv from "shell-env";
+import { shellEnv } from "./utils/shell-env";
 import os from "os";
 import { app } from "electron";
-import logger from "./logger";
 
 interface Env {
   [key: string]: string;
@@ -37,16 +36,7 @@ export async function shellSync() {
   const { shell } = os.userInfo();
   let envVars = {};
 
-  try {
-    envVars = await Promise.race([
-      shellEnv(shell),
-      new Promise((_resolve, reject) => setTimeout(() => {
-        reject(new Error("Resolving shell environment is taking very long. Please review your shell configuration."));
-      }, 5_000))
-    ]);
-  } catch (error) {
-    logger.error(`shellEnv: ${error}`);
-  }
+  envVars = await shellEnv(shell);
 
   const env: Env = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(envVars));
 
diff --git a/src/main/utils/shell-env.ts b/src/main/utils/shell-env.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b544603075
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/utils/shell-env.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2021 OpenLens Authors
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+ * this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
+ * the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
+ * use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of
+ * the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
+ * subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+ * copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
+ * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
+ * COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
+ * IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
+ * CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+import shellEnvironment from "shell-env";
+import logger from "../logger";
+
+export interface EnvironmentVariables {
+  readonly [key: string]: string;
+}
+
+let shellSyncFailed = false;
+
+/**
+ * Attempts to get the shell environment per the user's existing startup scripts. 
+ * If the environment can't be retrieved after 5 seconds an error message is logged.
+ * Subsequent calls after such a timeout simply log an error message without trying
+ * to get the environment, unless forceRetry is true.
+ * @param shell the shell to get the environment from
+ * @param forceRetry if true will always try to get the environment, otherwise if
+ * a previous call to this function failed then this call will fail too.
+ * @returns object containing the shell's environment variables. An empty object is
+ * returned if the call fails.
+ */
+export async function shellEnv(shell?: string, forceRetry = false) : Promise<EnvironmentVariables> {
+  let envVars = {};
+
+  if (forceRetry) {
+    shellSyncFailed = false;
+  }
+
+  if (!shellSyncFailed) {
+    try {
+      envVars = await Promise.race([
+        shellEnvironment(shell),
+        new Promise((_resolve, reject) => setTimeout(() => {
+          reject(new Error("Resolving shell environment is taking very long. Please review your shell configuration."));
+        }, 5_000))
+      ]);
+    } catch (error) {
+      logger.error(`shellEnv: ${error}`);
+      shellSyncFailed = true;
+    }
+  } else {
+    logger.error("shellSync(): Resolving shell environment took too long. Please review your shell configuration.");
+  }
+  
+  return envVars;
+}