diff --git a/lib/API/schema.json b/lib/API/schema.json
index 51ab302be3..0a97563561 100644
--- a/lib/API/schema.json
+++ b/lib/API/schema.json
@@ -13,6 +13,15 @@
   "name_prefix": {
     "type": "string"
   },
+  "filter_env": {
+    "type": [
+      "boolean",
+      "array",
+      "string"
+    ],
+    "docDefault": false,
+    "docDescription": "Enable filtering global environments"
+  },
   "namespace": {
     "type": "string",
     "docDefault": "default",
diff --git a/lib/Common.js b/lib/Common.js
index 55748242a1..823d204664 100644
--- a/lib/Common.js
+++ b/lib/Common.js
@@ -187,8 +187,17 @@ Common.prepareAppConf = function(opts, app) {
   else
     env = process.env;
 
-  // Change to double check  (dropped , {pm_cwd: cwd})
-  app.env = [{}, env, app.env || {}].reduce(function(e1, e2){
+  function filterEnv (envObj) {
+    var new_env = {};
+    var allowedKeys = app.filter_env.reduce((acc, current) =>
+                                            acc.filter( item => !item.includes(current)), Object.keys(envObj))
+    allowedKeys.forEach( key => new_env[key] = envObj[key]);
+    return new_env
+  }
+
+  app.env = [
+    {}, app.filter_env && app.filter_env.length ? filterEnv(process.env) : env, app.env || {}
+  ].reduce(function(e1, e2){
     return util._extend(e1, e2);
   });
 
diff --git a/lib/binaries/CLI.js b/lib/binaries/CLI.js
index 9d0026c7fc..a05217a34d 100644
--- a/lib/binaries/CLI.js
+++ b/lib/binaries/CLI.js
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ commander.version(pkg.version)
   .option('-o --output <path>', 'specify log file for stdout')
   .option('-e --error <path>', 'specify log file for stderr')
   .option('-l --log [path]', 'specify log file which gathers both stdout and stderr')
+  .option('--filter_env [envs]', 'filter out outgoing global values that contain provided strings', function(v, m) { m.push(v); return m;}, [])
   .option('--log-type <type>', 'specify log output style (raw by default, json optional)')
   .option('--log-date-format <date format>', 'add custom prefix timestamp to logs')
   .option('--time', 'enable time logging')
diff --git a/test/programmatic/filter_env.mocha.js b/test/programmatic/filter_env.mocha.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a88cf1c27d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/programmatic/filter_env.mocha.js
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+//#4596
+
+process.chdir(__dirname)
+
+process.env.SHOULD_NOT_BE_THERE = 'true'
+
+var PM2 = require('../..')
+var should = require('should')
+
+describe('API checks', function() {
+  before(function(done) {
+    PM2.delete('all', function() { done() })
+  })
+
+  after(function(done) {
+    PM2.kill(done)
+  })
+
+  afterEach(function(done) {
+    PM2.delete('all', done)
+  })
+
+  it('should start app and validate presence of env var', function(done) {
+    PM2.start({
+      script: './../fixtures/echo.js'
+    }, (err) => {
+      should(err).be.null()
+      PM2.list(function(err, list) {
+        should(err).be.null()
+        should(list.length).eql(1)
+        should.exists(list[0].pm2_env.SHOULD_NOT_BE_THERE)
+        done()
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should start app with filtered env wth array of env to be ignored', function(done) {
+    PM2.start({
+      script: './../fixtures/echo.js',
+      filter_env: ['SHOULD_NOT_BE_THERE']
+    }, (err) => {
+      should(err).be.null()
+      PM2.list(function(err, list) {
+        should(err).be.null()
+        should(list.length).eql(1)
+        should.not.exists(list[0].pm2_env.SHOULD_NOT_BE_THERE)
+        done()
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should start app with filtered env with string env name to be ignored', function(done) {
+    PM2.start({
+      script: './../fixtures/echo.js',
+      filter_env: 'SHOULD_NOT_BE_THERE'
+    }, (err) => {
+      should(err).be.null()
+      PM2.list(function(err, list) {
+        should(err).be.null()
+        should(list.length).eql(1)
+        should.not.exists(list[0].pm2_env.SHOULD_NOT_BE_THERE)
+        done()
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('should start app with filtered env at true to drop all local env', function(done) {
+    PM2.start({
+      script: './../fixtures/echo.js',
+      filter_env: true
+    }, (err) => {
+      should(err).be.null()
+      PM2.list(function(err, list) {
+        should(err).be.null()
+        should(list.length).eql(1)
+        should.not.exists(list[0].pm2_env.SHOULD_NOT_BE_THERE)
+        done()
+      })
+    })
+  })
+})