diff --git a/.buildkite/gpu_pipeline/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/gpu_pipeline/pipeline.yml
index 8f1c290695..8e28a47a54 100644
--- a/.buildkite/gpu_pipeline/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/gpu_pipeline/pipeline.yml
@@ -24,12 +24,9 @@ steps:
       - echo "--- Instantiate examples"
       - julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.instantiate(;verbose=true)'
       - julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.precompile()'
+      - julia --project=examples -e 'using CUDA; CUDA.precompile_runtime()'
       - julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.status()'
 
-      - echo "--- Configure CUDA"
-      # force the initialization of the CUDA runtime as it is lazily loaded by default
-      - julia --project=cuda_env -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.resolve(); Pkg.instantiate(;verbose=true); using CUDA; CUDA.precompile_runtime()'
-
       - echo "--- Download artifacts"
       - julia --project=examples artifacts/download_artifacts.jl
 
diff --git a/.buildkite/longruns/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/longruns/pipeline.yml
index 69030cda33..f1b1a7075a 100644
--- a/.buildkite/longruns/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/longruns/pipeline.yml
@@ -30,13 +30,10 @@ steps:
       - "julia --project -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.precompile()'"
       - "julia --project -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.status()'"
 
-      - echo "--- Configure CUDA"
-      # force the initialization of the CUDA runtime as it is lazily loaded by default
-      - "julia --project=cuda_env -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.resolve(); Pkg.instantiate(;verbose=true);using CUDA; CUDA.precompile_runtime()'"
-
       - echo "--- Instantiate"
       - "julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.instantiate(;verbose=true)'"
       - "julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.precompile()'"
+      - "julia --project=examples -e 'using CUDA; CUDA.precompile_runtime()'""
       - "julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.status()'"
       - "julia --project=examples artifacts/download_artifacts.jl"
 
diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index a78e9a1f67..864112d3db 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -36,10 +36,6 @@ steps:
       - "julia --project -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.precompile()'"
       - "julia --project -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.status()'"
 
-      - echo "--- Configure CUDA"
-      # force the initialization of the CUDA runtime as it is lazily loaded by default
-      - "julia --project=cuda_env -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.resolve(); Pkg.instantiate(;verbose=true);using CUDA; CUDA.precompile_runtime()'"
-
       - echo "--- Instantiate test"
       - "julia --project=test -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.develop(path = \".\")'"
       - "julia --project=test -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.instantiate(;verbose=true)'"
@@ -49,6 +45,7 @@ steps:
       - echo "--- Instantiate examples"
       - "julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.instantiate(;verbose=true)'"
       - "julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.precompile()'"
+      - "julia --project=examples -e 'using CUDA; CUDA.precompile_runtime()'"
       - "julia --project=examples -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.status()'"
 
       - echo "--- Instantiate perf"
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4975e4659b..d59f15fdb9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ docs/site/
 # environment.
 /Manifest.toml
 test/Manifest.toml
-cuda_env/Manifest.toml
 
 # ignore vscode artifacts
 *.vscode
diff --git a/cuda_env/Project.toml b/cuda_env/Project.toml
deleted file mode 100644
index 1fb0816387..0000000000
--- a/cuda_env/Project.toml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-[deps]
-CUDA = "052768ef-5323-5732-b1bb-66c8b64840ba"
-ClimaCore = "d414da3d-4745-48bb-8d80-42e94e092884"
diff --git a/examples/Manifest.toml b/examples/Manifest.toml
index 5c027eb092..ae1715648d 100644
--- a/examples/Manifest.toml
+++ b/examples/Manifest.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 julia_version = "1.9.4"
 manifest_format = "2.0"
-project_hash = "fb466347d1078c1d7eb1b19af42f7ee224fe2fab"
+project_hash = "94725b056650c16e4c4a7c8208143851b8e699ff"
 
 [[deps.ADTypes]]
 git-tree-sha1 = "332e5d7baeff8497b923b730b994fa480601efc7"
diff --git a/examples/Project.toml b/examples/Project.toml
index ef23fad2cd..599405537f 100644
--- a/examples/Project.toml
+++ b/examples/Project.toml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ ArtifactWrappers = "a14bc488-3040-4b00-9dc1-f6467924858a"
 AtmosphericProfilesLibrary = "86bc3604-9858-485a-bdbe-831ec50de11d"
 BlockArrays = "8e7c35d0-a365-5155-bbbb-fb81a777f24e"
 CLIMAParameters = "6eacf6c3-8458-43b9-ae03-caf5306d3d53"
+CUDA = "052768ef-5323-5732-b1bb-66c8b64840ba"
 CairoMakie = "13f3f980-e62b-5c42-98c6-ff1f3baf88f0"
 ClimaAtmos = "b2c96348-7fb7-4fe0-8da9-78d88439e717"
 ClimaComms = "3a4d1b5c-c61d-41fd-a00a-5873ba7a1b0d"