diff --git a/src/Operations.jl b/src/Operations.jl
index 4447248ab3..6ccbabab13 100644
--- a/src/Operations.jl
+++ b/src/Operations.jl
@@ -1027,8 +1027,12 @@ function gen_build_code(build_file::String; inherit_project::Bool = false)
         cd($(repr(dirname(build_file))))
         include($(repr(build_file)))
         """
+    # This will make it so that running Pkg.build runs the build in a session with --startup=no
+    # *unless* the parent julia session is started with --startup=yes explicitly.
+    startup_flag = Base.JLOptions().startupfile == 1 ? "yes" : "no"
     return ```
         $(Base.julia_cmd()) -O0 --color=no --history-file=no
+        --startup-file=$startup_flag
         $(inherit_project ? `--project=$(Base.active_project())` : ``)
         --eval $code
         ```