diff --git a/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientinterface.cpp b/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientinterface.cpp
index c20fa7c121a..b7e4a9ebb79 100644
--- a/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientinterface.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientinterface.cpp
@@ -99,10 +99,6 @@ void BaseClientInterface::parseCurrentMessage()
     m_currentMessage = BaseMessage();
 }
 
-StdIOClientInterface::StdIOClientInterface()
-    : m_env(Utils::Environment::systemEnvironment())
-{}
-
 StdIOClientInterface::~StdIOClientInterface()
 {
     delete m_process;
@@ -128,7 +124,8 @@ void StdIOClientInterface::startImpl()
     });
     m_process->setCommand(m_cmd);
     m_process->setWorkingDirectory(m_workingDirectory);
-    m_process->setEnvironment(m_env);
+    if (m_env.isValid())
+        m_process->setEnvironment(m_env);
     m_process->start();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientinterface.h b/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientinterface.h
index 0482c0e834b..4aa683f180d 100644
--- a/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientinterface.h
+++ b/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientinterface.h
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class LANGUAGECLIENT_EXPORT StdIOClientInterface : public BaseClientInterface
 {
     Q_OBJECT
 public:
-    StdIOClientInterface();
+    StdIOClientInterface() = default;
     ~StdIOClientInterface() override;
 
     StdIOClientInterface(const StdIOClientInterface &) = delete;
diff --git a/src/plugins/python/pythonlanguageclient.cpp b/src/plugins/python/pythonlanguageclient.cpp
index 2a4ea8c7d97..e621cd6283b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/python/pythonlanguageclient.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/python/pythonlanguageclient.cpp
@@ -153,14 +153,22 @@ class PyLSInterface : public StdIOClientInterface
 public:
     PyLSInterface()
         : m_extraPythonPath("QtCreator-pyls-XXXXXX")
-    {
-        Environment env = Environment::systemEnvironment();
-        env.appendOrSet("PYTHONPATH",
-                        m_extraPythonPath.path().toString(),
-                        OsSpecificAspects::pathListSeparator(env.osType()));
-        setEnvironment(env);
-    }
+    { }
+
     TemporaryDirectory m_extraPythonPath;
+protected:
+    void startImpl() override
+    {
+        if (!m_cmd.executable().needsDevice()) {
+            // todo check where to put this tempdir in remote setups
+            Environment env = Environment::systemEnvironment();
+            env.appendOrSet("PYTHONPATH",
+                            m_extraPythonPath.path().toString(),
+                            OsSpecificAspects::pathListSeparator(env.osType()));
+            setEnvironment(env);
+        }
+        StdIOClientInterface::startImpl();
+    }
 };
 
 PyLSClient *clientForPython(const FilePath &python)