diff --git a/cmd/soong_ui/main.go b/cmd/soong_ui/main.go
index 8453413c7..ffbe7de4f 100644
--- a/cmd/soong_ui/main.go
+++ b/cmd/soong_ui/main.go
@@ -196,13 +196,12 @@ func main() {
 		Status:  stat,
 	}}
 
-	config := c.config(buildCtx, args...)
-
 	if err := loadEnvConfig(); err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "failed to parse env config files: %v", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
+	config := c.config(buildCtx, args...)
 
 	build.SetupOutDir(buildCtx, config)