diff --git a/ghcide/session-loader/Development/IDE/Session.hs b/ghcide/session-loader/Development/IDE/Session.hs
index 2b99862cad..a1768be564 100644
--- a/ghcide/session-loader/Development/IDE/Session.hs
+++ b/ghcide/session-loader/Development/IDE/Session.hs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ module Development.IDE.Session
   (SessionLoadingOptions(..)
   ,CacheDirs(..)
   ,loadSessionWithOptions
-  ,setInitialDynFlags
+  ,getInitialGhcLibDirDefault
   ,getHieDbLoc
   ,retryOnSqliteBusy
   ,retryOnException
@@ -113,13 +113,11 @@ import           Development.IDE.Types.Shake         (WithHieDb,
 import           GHC.Data.Graph.Directed
 import           HieDb.Create
 import           HieDb.Types
-import           HieDb.Utils
 import           Ide.PluginUtils                     (toAbsolute)
 import qualified System.Random                       as Random
 import           System.Random                       (RandomGen)
 import           Text.ParserCombinators.ReadP        (readP_to_S)
 
-import           GHC.Data.Bag
 import           GHC.Driver.Env                      (hsc_all_home_unit_ids)
 import           GHC.Driver.Errors.Types
 import           GHC.Types.Error                     (errMsgDiagnostic,
@@ -286,15 +284,6 @@ getInitialGhcLibDirDefault recorder rootDir = do
         logWith recorder Warning LogGetInitialGhcLibDirDefaultCradleNone
         pure Nothing
 
--- | Sets `unsafeGlobalDynFlags` on using the hie-bios cradle and returns the GHC libdir
-setInitialDynFlags :: Recorder (WithPriority Log) -> FilePath -> SessionLoadingOptions -> IO (Maybe LibDir)
-setInitialDynFlags recorder rootDir SessionLoadingOptions{..} = do
-  libdir <- getInitialGhcLibDir recorder rootDir
-  dynFlags <- mapM dynFlagsForPrinting libdir
-  logWith recorder Debug LogSettingInitialDynFlags
-  mapM_ setUnsafeGlobalDynFlags dynFlags
-  pure libdir
-
 -- | If the action throws exception that satisfies predicate then we sleep for
 -- a duration determined by the random exponential backoff formula,
 -- `uniformRandom(0, min (maxDelay, (baseDelay * 2) ^ retryAttempt))`, and try
diff --git a/ghcide/src/Development/IDE/GHC/Util.hs b/ghcide/src/Development/IDE/GHC/Util.hs
index 03384aec92..a6e0c10461 100644
--- a/ghcide/src/Development/IDE/GHC/Util.hs
+++ b/ghcide/src/Development/IDE/GHC/Util.hs
@@ -255,7 +255,6 @@ ioe_dupHandlesNotCompatible h =
 -- Tracing exactprint terms
 
 -- | Print a GHC value in `defaultUserStyle` without unique symbols.
--- It uses `showSDocUnsafe` with `unsafeGlobalDynFlags` internally.
 --
 -- This is the most common print utility.
 -- It will do something additionally compared to what the 'Outputable' instance does.
diff --git a/ghcide/src/Development/IDE/Main.hs b/ghcide/src/Development/IDE/Main.hs
index d4c80e23a6..42bc8dcd8c 100644
--- a/ghcide/src/Development/IDE/Main.hs
+++ b/ghcide/src/Development/IDE/Main.hs
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import           Control.Concurrent.MVar                  (newEmptyMVar,
                                                            putMVar, tryReadMVar)
 import           Control.Concurrent.STM.Stats             (dumpSTMStats)
 import           Control.Exception.Safe                   (SomeException,
-                                                           catchAny,
                                                            displayException)
 import           Control.Monad.Extra                      (concatMapM, unless,
                                                            when)
@@ -32,7 +31,7 @@ import           Data.List.Extra                          (intercalate,
 import           Data.Maybe                               (catMaybes, isJust)
 import qualified Data.Text                                as T
 import           Development.IDE                          (Action,
-                                                           Priority (Debug, Error),
+                                                           Priority (Debug),
                                                            Rules, hDuplicateTo')
 import           Development.IDE.Core.Debouncer           (Debouncer,
                                                            newAsyncDebouncer)
@@ -73,8 +72,7 @@ import qualified Development.IDE.Plugin.Test              as Test
 import           Development.IDE.Session                  (SessionLoadingOptions,
                                                            getHieDbLoc,
                                                            loadSessionWithOptions,
-                                                           retryOnSqliteBusy,
-                                                           setInitialDynFlags)
+                                                           retryOnSqliteBusy, getInitialGhcLibDirDefault)
 import qualified Development.IDE.Session                  as Session
 import           Development.IDE.Types.Location           (NormalizedUri,
                                                            toNormalizedFilePath')
@@ -329,13 +327,6 @@ defaultMain recorder Arguments{..} = withHeapStats (cmapWithPrio LogHeapStats re
                 getIdeState env rootPath withHieDb threadQueue = do
                   t <- ioT
                   logWith recorder Info $ LogLspStartDuration t
-                  -- We want to set the global DynFlags right now, so that we can use
-                  -- `unsafeGlobalDynFlags` even before the project is configured
-                  _mlibdir <-
-                      setInitialDynFlags (cmapWithPrio LogSession recorder) rootPath argsSessionLoadingOptions
-                          -- TODO: should probably catch/log/rethrow at top level instead
-                          `catchAny` (\e -> logWith recorder Error (LogSetInitialDynFlagsException e) >> pure Nothing)
-
                   sessionLoader <- loadSessionWithOptions (cmapWithPrio LogSession recorder) argsSessionLoadingOptions rootPath (tLoaderQueue threadQueue)
                   config <- LSP.runLspT env LSP.getConfig
                   let def_options = argsIdeOptions config sessionLoader
@@ -435,7 +426,7 @@ defaultMain recorder Arguments{..} = withHeapStats (cmapWithPrio LogHeapStats re
             let root = argsProjectRoot
             dbLoc <- getHieDbLoc root
             hPutStrLn stderr $ "Using hiedb at: " ++ dbLoc
-            mlibdir <- setInitialDynFlags (cmapWithPrio LogSession recorder) root def
+            mlibdir <- getInitialGhcLibDirDefault (cmapWithPrio LogSession recorder) root
             rng <- newStdGen
             case mlibdir of
                 Nothing     -> exitWith $ ExitFailure 1