diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6072f0389..169331755 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ For experimental package changes, see the [experimental CHANGELOG](experimental/
 
 ### :bug: (Bug Fix)
 
+* fix(core): align inconsistent behavior of `getEnv()` and `getEnvWithoutDefaults()` when a `process` polyfill is used [#4648](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/4648) @pichlermarc
+  * `getEnvWithoutDefaults()` would use `process.env` if it was defined when running in a browser, while `getEnv()` would always use `_globalThis`. Now both use `_globalThis` when running in a browser.
+* fix(resources): prevent circular import (resource -> detector -> resource -> ...) [#4653](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/4653) @pichlermarc
+  * fixes a circular import warning which would appear in rollup when bundling `@opentelemetry/resources`
+
 ### :books: (Refine Doc)
 
 ### :house: (Internal)
@@ -29,8 +34,6 @@ For experimental package changes, see the [experimental CHANGELOG](experimental/
 
 * fix(sdk-trace-web): fix invalid timings in span events [#4486](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/4486) @Abinet18
 * fix(resources): ensure BrowserDetector does not think Node.js v21 is a browser [#4561](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/issues/4561) @trentm
-* fix(resources): prevent circular import (resource -> detector -> resource -> ...) [#4653](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/4653) @pichlermarc
-  * fixes a circular import warning which would appear in rollup when bundling `@opentelemetry/resources`
 
 ## 1.23.0
 
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/browser/environment.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/browser/environment.ts
index 0c1409671..2392cc15a 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/browser/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/browser/environment.ts
@@ -31,3 +31,7 @@ export function getEnv(): Required<ENVIRONMENT> {
   );
   return Object.assign({}, DEFAULT_ENVIRONMENT, globalEnv);
 }
+
+export function getEnvWithoutDefaults(): ENVIRONMENT {
+  return parseEnvironment(_globalThis as typeof globalThis & RAW_ENVIRONMENT);
+}
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/browser/index.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/browser/index.ts
index e2860192e..ca373f3d4 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/browser/index.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/browser/index.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-export * from './environment';
+export { getEnvWithoutDefaults, getEnv } from './environment';
 export * from './globalThis';
 export * from './hex-to-base64';
 export * from './RandomIdGenerator';
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/node/environment.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/node/environment.ts
index 48658693f..d0c037bf2 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/node/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/node/environment.ts
@@ -28,3 +28,7 @@ export function getEnv(): Required<ENVIRONMENT> {
   const processEnv = parseEnvironment(process.env as RAW_ENVIRONMENT);
   return Object.assign({}, DEFAULT_ENVIRONMENT, processEnv);
 }
+
+export function getEnvWithoutDefaults(): ENVIRONMENT {
+  return parseEnvironment(process.env as RAW_ENVIRONMENT);
+}
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/node/index.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/node/index.ts
index e2860192e..ca373f3d4 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/node/index.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/platform/node/index.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-export * from './environment';
+export { getEnvWithoutDefaults, getEnv } from './environment';
 export * from './globalThis';
 export * from './hex-to-base64';
 export * from './RandomIdGenerator';
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/environment.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/environment.ts
index fda6e103b..3540d0813 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/environment.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import { DiagLogLevel } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { TracesSamplerValues } from './sampling';
-import { _globalThis } from '../platform/browser/globalThis';
 
 const DEFAULT_LIST_SEPARATOR = ',';
 
@@ -369,13 +368,3 @@ export function parseEnvironment(values: RAW_ENVIRONMENT): ENVIRONMENT {
 
   return environment;
 }
-
-/**
- * Get environment in node or browser without
- * populating default values.
- */
-export function getEnvWithoutDefaults(): ENVIRONMENT {
-  return typeof process !== 'undefined' && process && process.env
-    ? parseEnvironment(process.env as RAW_ENVIRONMENT)
-    : parseEnvironment(_globalThis as typeof globalThis & RAW_ENVIRONMENT);
-}