diff --git a/script/config.js b/script/config.js
index 67d522e558f..4fb052b4928 100644
--- a/script/config.js
+++ b/script/config.js
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 'use strict';
 
-const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const spawnSync = require('./lib/spawn-sync');
 
@@ -113,8 +112,6 @@ function getApmBinPath() {
 }
 
 function getNpmBinPath(external = false) {
-  if (process.env.NPM_BIN_PATH) return process.env.NPM_BIN_PATH;
-
   const npmBinName = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'npm.cmd' : 'npm';
   const localNpmBinPath = path.resolve(
     repositoryRootPath,
@@ -123,7 +120,5 @@ function getNpmBinPath(external = false) {
     '.bin',
     npmBinName
   );
-  return !external && fs.existsSync(localNpmBinPath)
-    ? localNpmBinPath
-    : npmBinName;
+  return localNpmBinPath;
 }
diff --git a/script/lib/install-script-dependencies.js b/script/lib/install-script-dependencies.js
index bb026b35a35..11a01cd8675 100644
--- a/script/lib/install-script-dependencies.js
+++ b/script/lib/install-script-dependencies.js
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@ process.env.ELECTRON_CUSTOM_VERSION = CONFIG.appMetadata.electronVersion;
 
 module.exports = function(ci) {
   console.log('Installing script dependencies');
+  const npmBinName = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'npm.cmd' : 'npm';
   childProcess.execFileSync(
-    CONFIG.getNpmBinPath(ci),
+    npmBinName,
     ['--loglevel=error', ci ? 'ci' : 'install'],
     { env: process.env, cwd: CONFIG.scriptRootPath }
   );
diff --git a/script/lib/verify-machine-requirements.js b/script/lib/verify-machine-requirements.js
index 8b8420aac14..afac015d513 100644
--- a/script/lib/verify-machine-requirements.js
+++ b/script/lib/verify-machine-requirements.js
@@ -3,11 +3,8 @@
 const childProcess = require('child_process');
 const path = require('path');
 
-const CONFIG = require('../config');
-
 module.exports = function(ci) {
   verifyNode();
-  verifyNpm(ci);
   verifyPython();
 };
 
@@ -24,24 +21,6 @@ function verifyNode() {
   }
 }
 
-function verifyNpm(ci) {
-  const stdout = childProcess.execFileSync(
-    CONFIG.getNpmBinPath(ci),
-    ['--version'],
-    { env: process.env }
-  );
-  const fullVersion = stdout.toString().trim();
-  const majorVersion = fullVersion.split('.')[0];
-  const oldestMajorVersionSupported = ci ? 6 : 3;
-  if (majorVersion >= oldestMajorVersionSupported) {
-    console.log(`Npm:\tv${fullVersion}`);
-  } else {
-    throw new Error(
-      `npm v${oldestMajorVersionSupported}+ is required to build Atom. npm v${fullVersion} was detected.`
-    );
-  }
-}
-
 function verifyPython() {
   // This function essentially re-implements node-gyp's "find-python.js" library,
   // but in a synchronous, bootstrap-script-friendly way.