diff --git a/airflow-core/src/airflow/cli/commands/api_server_command.py b/airflow-core/src/airflow/cli/commands/api_server_command.py
index 2e0744be5b8dd..ccc79a1093804 100644
--- a/airflow-core/src/airflow/cli/commands/api_server_command.py
+++ b/airflow-core/src/airflow/cli/commands/api_server_command.py
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@
 
 PS = ParamSpec("PS")
 RT = TypeVar("RT")
-AIRFLOW_API_APPS = "AIRFLOW_API_APPS"
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -105,17 +104,17 @@ def with_api_apps_env(func: Callable[[Namespace], RT]) -> Callable[[Namespace],
     @wraps(func)
     def wrapper(args: Namespace) -> RT:
         apps: str = args.apps
-        original_value = os.environ.get(AIRFLOW_API_APPS)
+        original_value = os.environ.get("AIRFLOW_API_APPS")
         try:
             log.debug("Setting AIRFLOW_API_APPS to: %s", apps)
-            os.environ[AIRFLOW_API_APPS] = apps
+            os.environ["AIRFLOW_API_APPS"] = apps
             return func(args)
         finally:
             if original_value is not None:
-                os.environ[AIRFLOW_API_APPS] = original_value
+                os.environ["AIRFLOW_API_APPS"] = original_value
                 log.debug("Restored AIRFLOW_API_APPS to: %s", original_value)
             else:
-                os.environ.pop(AIRFLOW_API_APPS, None)
+                os.environ.pop("AIRFLOW_API_APPS", None)
                 log.debug("Removed AIRFLOW_API_APPS from environment")
 
     return wrapper
diff --git a/airflow-core/tests/unit/cli/commands/test_api_server_command.py b/airflow-core/tests/unit/cli/commands/test_api_server_command.py
index 2f3dec30f3dbb..701028c1e8159 100644
--- a/airflow-core/tests/unit/cli/commands/test_api_server_command.py
+++ b/airflow-core/tests/unit/cli/commands/test_api_server_command.py
@@ -147,15 +147,13 @@ def test_api_apps_env(self, args, dev_mode, original_env):
 
             # Verify the AIRFLOW_API_APPS was set correctly
             if "--apps" in args:
-                expected_setitem_calls.append(
-                    mock.call(api_server_command.AIRFLOW_API_APPS, parsed_args.apps)
-                )
+                expected_setitem_calls.append(mock.call("AIRFLOW_API_APPS", parsed_args.apps))
 
             # Verify AIRFLOW_API_APPS was cleaned up
             if original_env is not None:
-                expected_setitem_calls.append(mock.call(api_server_command.AIRFLOW_API_APPS, original_env))
+                expected_setitem_calls.append(mock.call("AIRFLOW_API_APPS", original_env))
             else:
-                mock_environ.pop.assert_called_with(api_server_command.AIRFLOW_API_APPS, None)
+                mock_environ.pop.assert_called_with("AIRFLOW_API_APPS", None)
 
             # Verify that the environment variable was set and cleaned up correctly
             mock_environ.__setitem__.assert_has_calls(expected_setitem_calls)