diff --git a/paasta_tools/cli/utils.py b/paasta_tools/cli/utils.py
index e77a4d8b24..979fbff996 100644
--- a/paasta_tools/cli/utils.py
+++ b/paasta_tools/cli/utils.py
@@ -1104,10 +1104,13 @@ def get_paasta_oapi_api_clustername(cluster: str, is_eks: bool) -> str:
 
 
 def get_current_ecosystem() -> str:
-    """Infer ecosystem from local-run configuration"""
-    local_run_config = load_system_paasta_config().get_local_run_config()
-    ecosystem = local_run_config["default_cluster"].split("-", 1)[-1]
-    return f"{ecosystem}prod" if ecosystem == "corp" else ecosystem
+    """Get current ecosystem from host configs, defaults to dev if no config is found"""
+    try:
+        with open("/nail/etc/ecosystem") as f:
+            return f.read().strip()
+    except IOError:
+        pass
+    return "devc"
 
 
 def get_service_auth_token() -> str:
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_utils.py b/tests/cli/test_utils.py
index 012d35cf8e..8379c245e6 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_utils.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 
 import ephemeral_port_reserve
 import mock
-import pytest
 from mock import call
 from mock import patch
 from pytest import mark
@@ -25,7 +24,6 @@
 
 from paasta_tools.cli import utils
 from paasta_tools.cli.utils import extract_tags
-from paasta_tools.cli.utils import get_current_ecosystem
 from paasta_tools.cli.utils import get_service_auth_token
 from paasta_tools.cli.utils import select_k8s_secret_namespace
 from paasta_tools.cli.utils import verify_instances
@@ -481,18 +479,6 @@ def test_select_k8s_secret_namespace():
     assert select_k8s_secret_namespace(namespaces) in {"a", "b"}
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    "default_cluster,expected",
-    (("whatever-dev", "dev"), ("something-corp", "corpprod")),
-)
-@patch("paasta_tools.cli.utils.load_system_paasta_config", autospec=True)
-def test_get_current_ecosystem(mock_config, default_cluster, expected):
-    mock_config.return_value.get_local_run_config.return_value = {
-        "default_cluster": default_cluster
-    }
-    assert get_current_ecosystem() == expected
-
-
 @patch("paasta_tools.cli.utils.load_system_paasta_config", autospec=True)
 @patch("paasta_tools.cli.utils.get_current_ecosystem", autospec=True)
 @patch("paasta_tools.cli.utils.InstanceMetadataProvider", autospec=True)