diff --git a/dotenv/fixtures/utf8-bom.env b/dotenv/fixtures/utf8-bom.env
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4380d471
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotenv/fixtures/utf8-bom.env
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+OPTION_A=1
+OPTION_B=2
+OPTION_C= 3
+OPTION_D =4
+OPTION_E = 5
+456 = ABC
+OPTION_F =
+OPTION_G=
+OPTION_H = my string # Inline comment
diff --git a/dotenv/godotenv.go b/dotenv/godotenv.go
index 543df9b1..69ac6ece 100644
--- a/dotenv/godotenv.go
+++ b/dotenv/godotenv.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 package dotenv
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ import (
 
 const doubleQuoteSpecialChars = "\\\n\r\"!$`"
 
+var utf8BOM = []byte("\uFEFF")
+
 // LookupFn represents a lookup function to resolve variables from
 type LookupFn func(string) (string, bool)
 
@@ -48,6 +51,10 @@ func ParseWithLookup(r io.Reader, lookupFn LookupFn) (map[string]string, error)
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// seek past the UTF-8 BOM if it exists (particularly on Windows, some
+	// editors tend to add it, and it'll cause parsing to fail)
+	data = bytes.TrimPrefix(data, utf8BOM)
+
 	return UnmarshalBytesWithLookup(data, lookupFn)
 }
 
diff --git a/dotenv/godotenv_test.go b/dotenv/godotenv_test.go
index b8ff6aea..c95bcfc5 100644
--- a/dotenv/godotenv_test.go
+++ b/dotenv/godotenv_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
 var noopPresets = make(map[string]string)
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@ func TestLoadDoesNotOverride(t *testing.T) {
 	loadEnvAndCompareValues(t, Load, envFileName, expectedValues, presets)
 }
 
-func TestOveroadDoesOverride(t *testing.T) {
+func TestOverloadDoesOverride(t *testing.T) {
 	envFileName := "fixtures/plain.env"
 
 	// ensure NO overload
@@ -525,7 +527,7 @@ func TestRoundtrip(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestInheritedEnvVariablSameSize(t *testing.T) {
+func TestInheritedEnvVariableSameSize(t *testing.T) {
 	const envKey = "VAR_TO_BE_LOADED_FROM_OS_ENV"
 	const envVal = "SOME_RANDOM_VALUE"
 	os.Setenv(envKey, envVal)
@@ -551,7 +553,7 @@ func TestInheritedEnvVariablSameSize(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestInheritedEnvVariablSingleVar(t *testing.T) {
+func TestInheritedEnvVariableSingleVar(t *testing.T) {
 	const envKey = "VAR_TO_BE_LOADED_FROM_OS_ENV"
 	const envVal = "SOME_RANDOM_VALUE"
 	os.Setenv(envKey, envVal)
@@ -702,3 +704,25 @@ func TestSubstitutionsWithUnsetVarEnvFileDefaultValuePrecedence(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestUTF8BOM(t *testing.T) {
+	envFileName := "fixtures/utf8-bom.env"
+
+	// sanity check the fixture, since the UTF-8 BOM is invisible, it'd be
+	// easy for it to get removed by accident, which would invalidate this
+	// test
+	envFileData, err := os.ReadFile(envFileName)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.True(t, bytes.HasPrefix(envFileData, []byte("\uFEFF")),
+		"Test fixture file is missing UTF-8 BOM")
+
+	expectedValues := map[string]string{
+		"OPTION_A": "1",
+		"OPTION_B": "2",
+		"OPTION_C": "3",
+		"OPTION_D": "4",
+		"OPTION_E": "5",
+	}
+
+	loadEnvAndCompareValues(t, Load, envFileName, expectedValues, noopPresets)
+}