diff --git a/src/sage/config.py.in b/src/sage/config.py.in
index d7ae0db56d4..c3a6cc3bdc3 100644
--- a/src/sage/config.py.in
+++ b/src/sage/config.py.in
@@ -12,11 +12,6 @@ VERSION = "@PACKAGE_VERSION@"
 SAGE_LOCAL = "@prefix@"
 SAGE_ROOT = "@SAGE_ROOT@"
 
-# The semicolon-separated list of GAP root paths. This is the list of
-# locations that are searched for GAP packages. This is passed directly
-# to GAP via the -l flag.
-GAP_ROOT_PATHS = "@GAP_ROOT_PATHS@".replace("${prefix}", SAGE_LOCAL)
-
 # The path to the standalone maxima executable.
 MAXIMA = "@SAGE_MAXIMA@".replace("${prefix}", SAGE_LOCAL)
 
@@ -147,3 +142,16 @@ def get_include_dirs() -> list[Path]:
         # because some headers are generated in the build directory.
         dirs.extend([root / "src" for root in editable_root])
     return [dir for dir in dirs if dir.is_dir()]
+
+
+def get_gap_root() -> Path:
+    """
+    Return the GAP root path.
+
+    EXAMPLES::
+
+        sage: from sage.config import get_gap_root
+        sage: get_gap_root() # random
+        '/path/to/local/lib/gap'
+    """
+    return Path("@GAP_ROOT_PATH@")
diff --git a/src/sage/env.py b/src/sage/env.py
index 1ef76525a8f..534a8eb2b6f 100644
--- a/src/sage/env.py
+++ b/src/sage/env.py
@@ -244,12 +244,6 @@ def var(key: str, *fallbacks: Optional[str], force: bool = False) -> Optional[st
 SAGE_GAP_MEMORY = var('SAGE_GAP_MEMORY', None)
 SAGE_GAP_COMMAND = var('SAGE_GAP_COMMAND', None)
 
-# The semicolon-separated search path for GAP packages. It is passed
-# directly to GAP via the -l flag.
-GAP_ROOT_PATHS = var("GAP_ROOT_PATHS",
-                     ";".join([join(SAGE_LOCAL, "lib", "gap"),
-                               join(SAGE_LOCAL, "share", "gap")]))
-
 # post process
 if DOT_SAGE is not None and ' ' in DOT_SAGE:
     print("Your home directory has a space in it.  This")
diff --git a/src/sage/interfaces/gap.py b/src/sage/interfaces/gap.py
index af29d7e5926..8bfcd675890 100644
--- a/src/sage/interfaces/gap.py
+++ b/src/sage/interfaces/gap.py
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@
 
 import sage.interfaces.abc
 from sage.cpython.string import bytes_to_str
-from sage.env import GAP_ROOT_PATHS, SAGE_EXTCODE, SAGE_GAP_COMMAND, SAGE_GAP_MEMORY
+from sage.env import SAGE_EXTCODE, SAGE_GAP_COMMAND, SAGE_GAP_MEMORY
 from sage.interfaces.expect import (
     Expect,
     ExpectElement,
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@
     # Passing -A allows us to use a minimal GAP installation without
     # producing errors at start-up. The files sage.g and sage.gaprc are
     # used to load any additional packages that may be available.
-    gap_cmd = f'gap -A -l "{GAP_ROOT_PATHS}"'
+    gap_cmd = 'gap -A'
     if SAGE_GAP_MEMORY is not None:
         gap_cmd += " -s " + SAGE_GAP_MEMORY + " -o " + SAGE_GAP_MEMORY
 else:
diff --git a/src/sage/interfaces/gap_workspace.py b/src/sage/interfaces/gap_workspace.py
index c7df7ffaed1..0f35a07f2e5 100644
--- a/src/sage/interfaces/gap_workspace.py
+++ b/src/sage/interfaces/gap_workspace.py
@@ -13,11 +13,13 @@
 #                  https://www.gnu.org/licenses/
 # ****************************************************************************
 
-import os
-import time
 import hashlib
+import os
 import subprocess
-from sage.env import DOT_SAGE, HOSTNAME, GAP_ROOT_PATHS
+import time
+
+from sage.config import get_gap_root
+from sage.env import DOT_SAGE, HOSTNAME
 
 
 def gap_workspace_file(system='gap', name='workspace', dir=None):
@@ -60,15 +62,10 @@ def gap_workspace_file(system='gap', name='workspace', dir=None):
     if dir is None:
         dir = os.path.join(DOT_SAGE, 'gap')
 
-    data = f'{GAP_ROOT_PATHS}'
-    for path in GAP_ROOT_PATHS.split(";"):
-        if not path:
-            # If GAP_ROOT_PATHS begins or ends with a semicolon,
-            # we'll get one empty path.
-            continue
-        sysinfo = os.path.join(path, "sysinfo.gap")
-        if os.path.exists(sysinfo):
-            data += subprocess.getoutput(f'. "{sysinfo}" && echo ":$GAP_VERSION:$GAParch"')
+    data = f'{get_gap_root()}'
+    sysinfo = get_gap_root() / "sysinfo.gap"
+    if os.path.exists(sysinfo):
+        data += subprocess.getoutput(f'. "{sysinfo}" && echo ":$GAP_VERSION:$GAParch"')
     h = hashlib.sha1(data.encode('utf-8')).hexdigest()
     return os.path.join(dir, f'{system}-{name}-{HOSTNAME}-{h}')
 
diff --git a/src/sage/libs/gap/saved_workspace.py b/src/sage/libs/gap/saved_workspace.py
index c26993ac638..ae7ec147021 100644
--- a/src/sage/libs/gap/saved_workspace.py
+++ b/src/sage/libs/gap/saved_workspace.py
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 workspaces.
 """
 
-import os
 import glob
-from sage.env import GAP_ROOT_PATHS
+import os
+
+from sage.config import get_gap_root
 from sage.interfaces.gap_workspace import gap_workspace_file
 
 
@@ -30,18 +31,12 @@ def timestamp():
         <... 'float'>
     """
     libgap_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-    libgap_files = glob.glob(os.path.join(libgap_dir, '*'))
-    gap_packages = []
-    for d in GAP_ROOT_PATHS.split(";"):
-        if d:
-            # If GAP_ROOT_PATHS begins or ends with a semicolon,
-            # we'll get one empty d.
-            gap_packages += glob.glob(os.path.join(d, 'pkg', '*'))
-
+    libgap_files = glob.glob(os.path.join(libgap_dir, "*"))
+    gap_packages = glob.glob(get_gap_root() / "pkg" / "*")
     files = libgap_files + gap_packages
     if len(files) == 0:
-        print('Unable to find LibGAP files.')
-        return float('inf')
+        print("Unable to find LibGAP files.")
+        return float("inf")
     return max(map(os.path.getmtime, files))
 
 
diff --git a/src/sage/libs/gap/util.pyx b/src/sage/libs/gap/util.pyx
index 399c4827b7e..27cda6882ad 100644
--- a/src/sage/libs/gap/util.pyx
+++ b/src/sage/libs/gap/util.pyx
@@ -231,28 +231,25 @@ cdef initialize():
     cdef char* argv[16]
     argv[0] = "sage"
     argv[1] = "-A"
-    argv[2] = "-l"
-    s = str_to_bytes(sage.env.GAP_ROOT_PATHS, FS_ENCODING, "surrogateescape")
-    argv[3] = s
-
-    argv[4] = "-m"
-    argv[5] = "64m"
-
-    argv[6] = "-q"    # no prompt!
-    argv[7] = "-E"   # don't use readline as this will interfere with Python
-    argv[8] = "--nointeract"  # Implies -T
-    argv[9] = "-x"    # set the "screen" width so that GAP is less likely to
-    argv[10] = "4096"  # insert newlines when printing objects
+
+    argv[2] = "-m"
+    argv[3] = "64m"
+
+    argv[4] = "-q"    # no prompt!
+    argv[5] = "-E"   # don't use readline as this will interfere with Python
+    argv[6] = "--nointeract"  # Implies -T
+    argv[7] = "-x"    # set the "screen" width so that GAP is less likely to
+    argv[8] = "4096"  # insert newlines when printing objects
                       # 4096 unfortunately is the hard-coded max, but should
                       # be long enough for most cases
-    cdef int argc = 11   # argv[argc] must be NULL
+    cdef int argc = 9   # argv[argc] must be NULL
     gap_mem = sage.env.SAGE_GAP_MEMORY
     if gap_mem is not None:
         argc += 2
-        argv[11] = "-s"
+        argv[9] = "-s"
         s1 = str_to_bytes(gap_mem, FS_ENCODING, "surrogateescape")
-        argv[12] = s1
-        argv[5] = s1
+        argv[10] = s1
+        argv[3] = s1
 
     from sage.libs.gap.saved_workspace import workspace
     workspace, workspace_is_up_to_date = workspace()
diff --git a/src/sage/meson.build b/src/sage/meson.build
index d43e636a4e8..b327d5ae28e 100644
--- a/src/sage/meson.build
+++ b/src/sage/meson.build
@@ -35,19 +35,15 @@ if openmp.found()
   conf_data.set('OPENMP_CXXFLAGS', '-fopenmp')
 endif
 gap_exe = find_program('gap', required: not is_windows, disabler: true)
+
 if gap_exe.found()
   gaprun = run_command(
     gap_exe,
-    '-r',
-    '-q',
-    '--bare',
-    '--nointeract',
-    '-c',
-    'Display(JoinStringsWithSeparator(GAPInfo.RootPaths,";"));',
+    '--print-gaproot',
     check: true,
   )
-  gap_root_paths = gaprun.stdout().strip()
-  conf_data.set('GAP_ROOT_PATHS', gap_root_paths)
+  gap_root_path = gaprun.stdout().strip()
+  conf_data.set('GAP_ROOT_PATH', gap_root_path)
 endif
 ecm_bin = find_program(
   ['ecm', 'gmp-ecm'],