diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal.rb
index 030a1f3478..0384740fef 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/metal.rb
@@ -140,13 +140,6 @@ module ActionController
       end
     end
 
-    def self.build_with_env(env = {}) #:nodoc:
-      new.tap { |c|
-        c.set_request! ActionDispatch::Request.new(env)
-        c.set_response! make_response!(c.request)
-      }
-    end
-
     # Delegates to the class' <tt>controller_name</tt>
     def controller_name
       self.class.controller_name
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/renderer.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/renderer.rb
index 2a8b19b7ca..e4d19e9dba 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/renderer.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/renderer.rb
@@ -65,14 +65,18 @@ module ActionController
       @controller = controller
       @defaults = defaults
       @env = normalize_keys defaults.merge(env)
-      @env['action_dispatch.routes'] = controller._routes
     end
 
     # Render templates with any options from ActionController::Base#render_to_string.
     def render(*args)
       raise 'missing controller' unless controller
 
-      instance = controller.build_with_env(@env)
+      request = ActionDispatch::Request.new @env
+      request.routes = controller._routes
+
+      instance = controller.new
+      instance.set_request! request
+      instance.set_response! controller.make_response!(request)
       instance.render_to_string(*args)
     end