diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e590771..02e9025 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ flake8 = "^4.0.1"
 flake8-bugbear = "^22.1.11"
 pytest = "^7.0"
 snakemake = {git="https://github.com/snakemake/snakemake.git"}
-snakemake-executor-plugin-cluster-generic = {git = "https://github.com/snakemake/snakemake-executor-plugin-cluster-generic.git"}
 
 [tool.coverage.run]
 omit = [".*", "*/site-packages/*"]
diff --git a/snakemake_interface_software_deployment_plugins/__init__.py b/snakemake_interface_software_deployment_plugins/__init__.py
index 4c7ff7e..39f7ca8 100644
--- a/snakemake_interface_software_deployment_plugins/__init__.py
+++ b/snakemake_interface_software_deployment_plugins/__init__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 import hashlib
 from pathlib import Path
+import sys
 from typing import List, Optional, Self
 
 from snakemake_interface_software_deployment_plugins.settings import SoftwareDeploymentProviderSettingsBase
@@ -100,19 +101,24 @@ def __init__(
             name: str,
             prefix: Path,
             settings: Optional[SoftwareDeploymentProviderSettingsBase] = None,
+            parent_env: Optional[EnvBase] = None
         ):
         self.settings = settings
         self.deployment_path = prefix / name
         self.archive_path = prefix / f"{name}-archive"
+        self.parent_env = parent_env
         self.__post_init__()
 
     def __post_init__(self):  # noqa B027
+        """Do stuff after object initialization, e.g. checking for availability of
+        commands.
+        """
         pass
 
     @classmethod
-    @abstractmethod
-    def get_env_cls(cls) -> EnvBase:
-        ...
+    def get_env_cls(cls):
+        provider = sys.modules[cls.__module__]  # get module of derived class
+        return provider.Env
 
     def env(self, spec: EnvSpecBase) -> EnvBase:
-        return self.get_env_cls()(self, spec)
\ No newline at end of file
+        return self.get_env_cls()(provider=self, spec=spec, parent_env=self.parent_env)
\ No newline at end of file