diff --git a/executor/linux/stage.go b/executor/linux/stage.go
index 62660970..a429442e 100644
--- a/executor/linux/stage.go
+++ b/executor/linux/stage.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-vela/types/constants"
 	"github.com/go-vela/types/pipeline"
 	"github.com/go-vela/worker/internal/step"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 // CreateStage prepares the stage for execution.
@@ -141,6 +142,7 @@ func (c *client) ExecStage(ctx context.Context, s *pipeline.Stage, m *sync.Map)
 		//
 		// https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/go-vela/worker/internal/step#Skip
 		if step.Skip(_step, c.build, c.repo) {
+			logrus.Infof("Skipping step %s due to ruleset", _step.Name)
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/executor/local/build.go b/executor/local/build.go
index b5d24aa0..31d2c5ef 100644
--- a/executor/local/build.go
+++ b/executor/local/build.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/go-vela/types/constants"
 	"github.com/go-vela/worker/internal/build"
 	"github.com/go-vela/worker/internal/step"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 // CreateBuild configures the build for execution.
@@ -274,6 +275,7 @@ func (c *client) ExecBuild(ctx context.Context) error {
 		//
 		// https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/go-vela/worker/internal/step#Skip
 		if step.Skip(_step, c.build, c.repo) {
+			logrus.Infof("Skipping step %s due to ruleset", _step.Name)
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/executor/local/step.go b/executor/local/step.go
index d2202419..dc34bb12 100644
--- a/executor/local/step.go
+++ b/executor/local/step.go
@@ -31,18 +31,6 @@ func (c *client) CreateStep(ctx context.Context, ctn *pipeline.Container) error
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// create a library step object to facilitate injecting environment as early as possible
-	// (PlanStep is too late to inject environment vars for the kubernetes runtime).
-	_step := library.StepFromBuildContainer(c.build, ctn)
-
-	// update the step container environment
-	//
-	// https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/go-vela/worker/internal/step#Environment
-	err = step.Environment(ctn, c.build, c.repo, _step, c.Version)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	// substitute container configuration
 	//
 	// https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/go-vela/types/pipeline#Container.Substitute
@@ -56,19 +44,16 @@ func (c *client) CreateStep(ctx context.Context, ctn *pipeline.Container) error
 
 // PlanStep prepares the step for execution.
 func (c *client) PlanStep(ctx context.Context, ctn *pipeline.Container) error {
+	// early exit if container is nil
+	if ctn.Empty() {
+		return fmt.Errorf("empty container provided")
+	}
+
 	// create the library step object
 	_step := library.StepFromBuildContainer(c.build, ctn)
 	_step.SetStatus(constants.StatusRunning)
 	_step.SetStarted(time.Now().UTC().Unix())
 
-	// update the step container environment
-	//
-	// https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/go-vela/worker/internal/step#Environment
-	err := step.Environment(ctn, c.build, c.repo, _step, c.Version)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
 	// add the step to the client map
 	c.steps.Store(ctn.ID, _step)