diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fbfa04579240f..3c35d0943012a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -169,10 +169,6 @@ $(build_man1dir)/julia.1: $(JULIAHOME)/doc/man/julia.1 | $(build_man1dir)
 $(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl: $(JULIAHOME)/etc/juliarc.jl | $(build_sysconfdir)/julia
 	@echo Creating usr/etc/julia/juliarc.jl
 	@cp $< $@
-ifeq ($(OS), WINNT)
-	@cat $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/windows/juliarc.jl >> $(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl
-$(build_sysconfdir)/julia/juliarc.jl: $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/windows/juliarc.jl
-endif
 
 $(build_datarootdir)/julia/julia-config.jl : $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/julia-config.jl | $(build_datarootdir)/julia
 	$(INSTALL_M) $< $(dir $@)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index ade5947627d89..f63a898f702dc 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -175,6 +175,9 @@ Deprecated or removed
   * The forms of `read`, `readstring`, and `eachline` that accepted both a `Cmd` object and an
     input stream are deprecated. Use e.g. `read(pipeline(stdin, cmd))` instead ([#22762]).
 
+  * The default `juliarc.jl` file on Windows has been removed. Now must explicitly include the
+    file if you need access to executables or libraries in the `JULIA_HOME` directory, e.g. 
+    `joinpath(JULIA_HOME, "7z.exe")` for `7z.exe` ([#21540]).
 
 Julia v0.6.0 Release Notes
 ==========================
diff --git a/contrib/add_license_to_files.jl b/contrib/add_license_to_files.jl
index 5a523ba6edb91..14d6ac3d80ff7 100644
--- a/contrib/add_license_to_files.jl
+++ b/contrib/add_license_to_files.jl
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ const excludedirs = [
 
 const skipfiles = [
     "../contrib/add_license_to_files.jl",
-    "../contrib/windows/juliarc.jl",
     # files to check - already copyright
     # see: https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/11073#issuecomment-98099389
     "../base/special/trig.jl",
diff --git a/contrib/windows/juliarc.jl b/contrib/windows/juliarc.jl
deleted file mode 100644
index cfa10a98d7111..0000000000000
--- a/contrib/windows/juliarc.jl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-# Set up environment for Julia Windows binary distribution
-ENV["PATH"] = JULIA_HOME*";"*ENV["PATH"]
diff --git a/examples/embedding/embedding-test.jl b/examples/embedding/embedding-test.jl
index 336169085db4c..6a0228695ff69 100644
--- a/examples/embedding/embedding-test.jl
+++ b/examples/embedding/embedding-test.jl
@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@
 # tests the output of the embedding example is correct
 using Base.Test
 
+if Sys.iswindows()
+    # libjulia needs to be in the same directory as the embedding executable or in path
+    ENV["PATH"] = string(JULIA_HOME, ";", ENV["PATH"])
+end
+
 @test length(ARGS) == 1
 let
     stdout = Pipe()
diff --git a/test/cmdlineargs.jl b/test/cmdlineargs.jl
index a70a494f51b69..57ef73f32e8b7 100644
--- a/test/cmdlineargs.jl
+++ b/test/cmdlineargs.jl
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 
 catcmd = `cat`
 if Sys.iswindows()
+    busybox = joinpath(JULIA_HOME, "busybox.exe")
     try # use busybox-w32 on windows
-        success(`busybox`)
-        catcmd = `busybox cat`
+        success(`$busybox`)
+        catcmd = `$busybox cat`
     end
 end
 
diff --git a/test/spawn.jl b/test/spawn.jl
index f053b5c4bb95a..013b3e4521d12 100644
--- a/test/spawn.jl
+++ b/test/spawn.jl
@@ -17,18 +17,19 @@ shcmd = `sh`
 sleepcmd = `sleep`
 lscmd = `ls`
 if Sys.iswindows()
+    busybox = joinpath(JULIA_HOME, "busybox.exe")
     try # use busybox-w32 on windows
-        success(`busybox`)
-        yescmd = `busybox yes`
-        echocmd = `busybox echo`
-        sortcmd = `busybox sort`
-        printfcmd = `busybox printf`
-        truecmd = `busybox true`
-        falsecmd = `busybox false`
-        catcmd = `busybox cat`
-        shcmd = `busybox sh`
-        sleepcmd = `busybox sleep`
-        lscmd = `busybox ls`
+        success(`$busybox`)
+        yescmd = `$busybox yes`
+        echocmd = `$busybox echo`
+        sortcmd = `$busybox sort`
+        printfcmd = `$busybox printf`
+        truecmd = `$busybox true`
+        falsecmd = `$busybox false`
+        catcmd = `$busybox cat`
+        shcmd = `$busybox sh`
+        sleepcmd = `$busybox sleep`
+        lscmd = `$busybox ls`
     end
 end
 
@@ -343,8 +344,9 @@ let fname = tempname()
     cmd = pipeline(`echo asdf`,`cat`)
     if Sys.iswindows()
         try
-            success(`busybox`)
-            cmd = pipeline(`busybox echo asdf`,`busybox cat`)
+            busybox = joinpath(JULIA_HOME, "busybox.exe")
+            success(`\$busybox`)
+            cmd = pipeline(`\$busybox echo asdf`,`\$busybox cat`)
         end
     end
     for line in eachline(STDIN)