diff --git a/test/torchaudio_unittest/common_utils/case_utils.py b/test/torchaudio_unittest/common_utils/case_utils.py
index ad760afa53b..60aa6b8e080 100644
--- a/test/torchaudio_unittest/common_utils/case_utils.py
+++ b/test/torchaudio_unittest/common_utils/case_utils.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import torch
 import torchaudio
 from torch.testing._internal.common_utils import TestCase as PytorchTestCase
-from torchaudio._internal.module_utils import is_module_available
+from torchaudio._internal.module_utils import is_module_available, eval_env
 from torchaudio.utils.ffmpeg_utils import get_video_decoders, get_video_encoders
 
 from .backend_utils import set_audio_backend
@@ -143,24 +143,6 @@ def is_cuda_ctc_decoder_available():
     return _IS_CUDA_CTC_DECODER_AVAILABLE
 
 
-def _eval_env(var, default):
-    if var not in os.environ:
-        return default
-
-    val = os.environ.get(var, "0")
-    trues = ["1", "true", "TRUE", "on", "ON", "yes", "YES"]
-    falses = ["0", "false", "FALSE", "off", "OFF", "no", "NO"]
-    if val in trues:
-        return True
-    if val not in falses:
-        # fmt: off
-        raise RuntimeError(
-            f"Unexpected environment variable value `{var}={val}`. "
-            f"Expected one of {trues + falses}")
-        # fmt: on
-    return False
-
-
 def _fail(reason):
     def deco(test_item):
         if isinstance(test_item, type):
@@ -185,7 +167,7 @@ def _pass(test_item):
     return test_item
 
 
-_IN_CI = _eval_env("CI", default=False)
+_IN_CI = eval_env("CI", default=False)
 
 
 def _skipIf(condition, reason, key):
@@ -195,7 +177,7 @@ def _skipIf(condition, reason, key):
     # In CI, default to fail, so as to prevent accidental skip.
     # In other env, default to skip
     var = f"TORCHAUDIO_TEST_ALLOW_SKIP_IF_{key}"
-    skip_allowed = _eval_env(var, default=not _IN_CI)
+    skip_allowed = eval_env(var, default=not _IN_CI)
     if skip_allowed:
         return unittest.skip(reason)
     return _fail(f"{reason} But the test cannot be skipped. (CI={_IN_CI}, {var}={skip_allowed}.)")
@@ -268,7 +250,7 @@ def skipIfNoSoxEncoder(ext):
     key="NO_CUCTC_DECODER",
 )
 skipIfRocm = _skipIf(
-    _eval_env("TORCHAUDIO_TEST_WITH_ROCM", default=False),
+    eval_env("TORCHAUDIO_TEST_WITH_ROCM", default=False),
     reason="The test doesn't currently work on the ROCm stack.",
     key="ON_ROCM",
 )
diff --git a/torchaudio/_extension/__init__.py b/torchaudio/_extension/__init__.py
index 216e1747752..dc635efa29f 100644
--- a/torchaudio/_extension/__init__.py
+++ b/torchaudio/_extension/__init__.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import os
 import sys
 
-from torchaudio._internal.module_utils import fail_with_message, is_module_available, no_op
+from torchaudio._internal.module_utils import fail_with_message, is_module_available, no_op, eval_env
 
 try:
     from .fb import _init_ffmpeg
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 
 # Initialize libsox-related features
 _SOX_INITIALIZED = False
-if is_module_available("torchaudio.lib._torchaudio_sox"):
+if eval_env("TORCHAUDIO_USE_SOX", True) and is_module_available("torchaudio.lib._torchaudio_sox"):
     try:
         _init_sox()
         _SOX_INITIALIZED = True
diff --git a/torchaudio/_extension/utils.py b/torchaudio/_extension/utils.py
index f3e81dd316f..27662aacd88 100644
--- a/torchaudio/_extension/utils.py
+++ b/torchaudio/_extension/utils.py
@@ -70,9 +70,6 @@ def _init_sox():
     _load_lib("libtorchaudio_sox")
     import torchaudio.lib._torchaudio_sox  # noqa
 
-    # Dry-run
-    torchaudio.lib._torchaudio_sox.list_effects()
-
 
 def _try_access_avutil(ffmpeg_ver):
     libname_template = {
diff --git a/torchaudio/_internal/module_utils.py b/torchaudio/_internal/module_utils.py
index d5ab186b0c2..e0fb541fc1a 100644
--- a/torchaudio/_internal/module_utils.py
+++ b/torchaudio/_internal/module_utils.py
@@ -1,9 +1,29 @@
 import importlib.util
+import os
 import warnings
 from functools import wraps
 from typing import Optional
 
 
+def eval_env(var, default):
+    """Check if environment varable has True-y value"""
+    if var not in os.environ:
+        return default
+
+    val = os.environ.get(var, "0")
+    trues = ["1", "true", "TRUE", "on", "ON", "yes", "YES"]
+    falses = ["0", "false", "FALSE", "off", "OFF", "no", "NO"]
+    if val in trues:
+        return True
+    if val not in falses:
+        # fmt: off
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            f"Unexpected environment variable value `{var}={val}`. "
+            f"Expected one of {trues + falses}")
+        # fmt: on
+    return False
+
+
 def is_module_available(*modules: str) -> bool:
     r"""Returns if a top-level module with :attr:`name` exists *without**
     importing it. This is generally safer than try-catch block around a