diff --git a/doc/docgen.zig b/doc/docgen.zig
index 93cc316de18be60fc964aad8f6e59c8d343ca02b..675dcccf70b599600112fd894e7b4bc3a38ad52f 100644
--- a/doc/docgen.zig
+++ b/doc/docgen.zig
@@ -1305,7 +1305,7 @@ fn genHtml(
     defer root_node.end();
 
     var env_map = try process.getEnvMap(allocator);
-    try env_map.put("ZIG_DEBUG_COLOR", "1");
+    try env_map.put("YES_COLOR", "1");
 
     const host = try std.zig.system.NativeTargetInfo.detect(.{});
     const builtin_code = try getBuiltinCode(allocator, &env_map, zig_exe, opt_zig_lib_dir);
diff --git a/lib/build_runner.zig b/lib/build_runner.zig
index a5abbebe168e3be6f42193045667c82168f55fd3..cdedba90b2d60a0f5d16fb227e23d9491808d5a2 100644
--- a/lib/build_runner.zig
+++ b/lib/build_runner.zig
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ pub fn main() !void {
     const ttyconf = get_tty_conf(color, stderr);
     switch (ttyconf) {
         .no_color => try builder.env_map.put("NO_COLOR", "1"),
-        .escape_codes => try builder.env_map.put("ZIG_DEBUG_COLOR", "1"),
+        .escape_codes => try builder.env_map.put("YES_COLOR", "1"),
         .windows_api => {},
     }
 
diff --git a/lib/std/io/tty.zig b/lib/std/io/tty.zig
index 4f91d01ff8d0d2f1efc0903fac8efc97c5387cb8..bbae90198ed963c496dc3846874851ee0300f70b 100644
--- a/lib/std/io/tty.zig
+++ b/lib/std/io/tty.zig
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@ const native_os = builtin.os.tag;
 
 /// Detect suitable TTY configuration options for the given file (commonly stdout/stderr).
 /// This includes feature checks for ANSI escape codes and the Windows console API, as well as
-/// respecting the `ZIG_DEBUG_COLOR` and `YES_COLOR` environment variables to override the default.
+/// respecting the `NO_COLOR` and `YES_COLOR` environment variables to override the default.
 pub fn detectConfig(file: File) Config {
     const force_color: ?bool = if (builtin.os.tag == .wasi)
         null // wasi does not support environment variables
-    else if (process.hasEnvVarConstant("ZIG_DEBUG_COLOR"))
+    else if (process.hasEnvVarConstant("NO_COLOR"))
         false
     else if (process.hasEnvVarConstant("YES_COLOR"))
         true
diff --git a/test/src/StackTrace.zig b/test/src/StackTrace.zig
index 0552b419c0d952e7f2fa2a7193a9112a167d2877..71394e00b8ec9a08beb2d32f1e0cd95cd3a16c49 100644
--- a/test/src/StackTrace.zig
+++ b/test/src/StackTrace.zig
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ fn addExpect(
     });
 
     const run = b.addRunArtifact(exe);
-    run.removeEnvironmentVariable("ZIG_DEBUG_COLOR");
+    run.removeEnvironmentVariable("YES_COLOR");
     run.setEnvironmentVariable("NO_COLOR", "1");
     run.expectExitCode(1);
     run.expectStdOutEqual("");