diff --git a/packages/embark-utils/src/index.js b/packages/embark-utils/src/index.js
index 79fb38969..7c5db1e68 100644
--- a/packages/embark-utils/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/embark-utils/src/index.js
@@ -9,12 +9,13 @@ const logUtils = require('./log-utils');
 const toposortGraph = require('./toposort');
 import { unitRegex } from './constants';
 import * as AddressUtils from './addressUtils';
-const web3 = require("web3");
 import {
   getWeiBalanceFromString,
   getHexBalanceFromString,
   decodeParams,
-  sha3
+  sha3,
+  isHex,
+  soliditySha3
 } from './web3Utils';
 import { getAddressToContract, getTransactionParams } from './transactionUtils';
 import AccountParser from './accountParser';
@@ -41,11 +42,6 @@ function checkIsAvailable(url, callback) {
   });
 }
 
-function isHex(hex) {
-  const Web3 = require('web3');
-  return Web3.utils.isHex(hex);
-}
-
 function hashTo32ByteHexString(hash) {
   if (isHex(hash)) {
     if (!hash.startsWith('0x')) {
@@ -59,11 +55,6 @@ function hashTo32ByteHexString(hash) {
   return '0x' + multihash.toHexString(digest);
 }
 
-function soliditySha3(arg) {
-  const Web3 = require('web3');
-  return Web3.utils.soliditySha3(arg);
-}
-
 function sha512(arg) {
   if (typeof arg !== 'string') {
     throw new TypeError('argument must be a string');
@@ -145,11 +136,11 @@ function prepareContractsConfig(config) {
     const onDeploy = config.contracts[contractName].onDeploy;
 
     if (gas && gas.toString().match(unitRegex)) {
-      config.contracts[contractName].gas = getWeiBalanceFromString(gas, web3);
+      config.contracts[contractName].gas = getWeiBalanceFromString(gas);
     }
 
     if (gasPrice && gasPrice.toString().match(unitRegex)) {
-      config.contracts[contractName].gasPrice = getWeiBalanceFromString(gasPrice, web3);
+      config.contracts[contractName].gasPrice = getWeiBalanceFromString(gasPrice);
     }
 
     if (address) {
diff --git a/packages/embark-utils/src/web3Utils.ts b/packages/embark-utils/src/web3Utils.ts
index 8710a8d05..97f6272da 100644
--- a/packages/embark-utils/src/web3Utils.ts
+++ b/packages/embark-utils/src/web3Utils.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
 import { __ } from "i18n";
 import { balanceRegex } from "./constants";
 const Web3EthAbi = require("web3-eth-abi");
-const Web3 = require("web3");
+const web3 = require("web3");
 
-export function getHexBalanceFromString(balanceString: string, web3: any) {
-  if (!web3) {
-    throw new Error(__("[getHexBalanceFromString]: Missing parameter 'web3'"));
-  }
+export function getHexBalanceFromString(balanceString: string) {
   if (!balanceString) {
     return 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF;
   }
@@ -24,10 +21,7 @@ export function getHexBalanceFromString(balanceString: string, web3: any) {
   return web3.utils.toHex(web3.utils.toWei(match[1], match[2]));
 }
 
-export function getWeiBalanceFromString(balanceString: string, web3: any) {
-  if (!web3) {
-    throw new Error(__("[getWeiBalanceFromString]: Missing parameter 'web3'"));
-  }
+export function getWeiBalanceFromString(balanceString: string) {
   if (!balanceString) {
     return 0;
   }
@@ -47,5 +41,13 @@ export function decodeParams(typesArray: any, hexString: string) {
 }
 
 export function sha3(arg: any) {
-  return Web3.utils.sha3(arg);
+  return web3.utils.sha3(arg);
+}
+
+export function isHex(hex: string) {
+  return web3.utils.isHex(hex);
+}
+
+export function soliditySha3(arg: any) {
+  return web3.utils.soliditySha3(arg);
 }