diff --git a/cobrautil.go b/cobrautil.go
index 2bed329..ef255a3 100644
--- a/cobrautil.go
+++ b/cobrautil.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 	"github.com/jzelinskie/stringz"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
@@ -21,8 +22,8 @@ func IsBuiltinCommand(cmd *cobra.Command) bool {
 	)
 }
 
-// SyncViperPreRunE returns a Cobra run func that synchronizes Viper environment
-// flags prefixed with the provided argument.
+// SyncViperPreRunE returns a CobraRunFunc that synchronizes Viper environment
+// flags with the provided prefix.
 //
 // Thanks to Carolyn Van Slyck: https://github.com/carolynvs/stingoftheviper
 func SyncViperPreRunE(prefix string) CobraRunFunc {
@@ -50,6 +51,20 @@ func SyncViperPreRunE(prefix string) CobraRunFunc {
 	}
 }
 
+// SyncViperDotEnvPreRunE returns a CobraRunFunc that loads a .dotenv file
+// before synchronizing Viper environment flags with the provided prefix.
+//
+// If empty, envfilePath defaults to ".env".
+// The .dotenv file is loaded first before any additional Viper behavior.
+func SyncViperDotEnvPreRunE(prefix string, envfilePath string) CobraRunFunc {
+	return func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		if err := godotenv.Load(stringz.DefaultEmpty(envfilePath, ".env")); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		return SyncViperPreRunE(prefix)(cmd, args)
+	}
+}
+
 // CobraRunFunc is the signature of cobra.Command RunFuncs.
 type CobraRunFunc func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 9941b1f..34fe32a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ go 1.18
 
 require (
 	github.com/go-logr/logr v1.2.3
+	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1
 	github.com/jzelinskie/stringz v0.0.1
 	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16
 	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.28.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 3b48dc2..d45d177 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -158,6 +158,8 @@ github.com/ianlancetaylor/demangle v0.0.0-20181102032728-5e5cf60278f6/go.mod h1:
 github.com/ianlancetaylor/demangle v0.0.0-20200824232613-28f6c0f3b639/go.mod h1:aSSvb/t6k1mPoxDqO4vJh6VOCGPwU4O0C2/Eqndh1Sc=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.0 h1:Z8tu5sraLXCXIcARxBp/8cbvlwVa7Z1NHg9XEKhtSvM=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.0.0/go.mod h1:PxqpIevigyE2G7u3NXJIT2ANytuPF1OarO4DADm73n8=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1 h1:7eLL/+HRGLY0ldzfGMeQkb7vMd0as4CfYvUVzLqw0N0=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1/go.mod h1:f4LDr5Voq0i2e/R5DDNOoa2zzDfwtkZa6DnEwAbqwq4=
 github.com/jstemmer/go-junit-report v0.0.0-20190106144839-af01ea7f8024/go.mod h1:6v2b51hI/fHJwM22ozAgKL4VKDeJcHhJFhtBdhmNjmU=
 github.com/jstemmer/go-junit-report v0.9.1/go.mod h1:Brl9GWCQeLvo8nXZwPNNblvFj/XSXhF0NWZEnDohbsk=
 github.com/jzelinskie/stringz v0.0.1 h1:IahR+y8ct2nyj7B6i8UtFsGFj4ex1SX27iKFYsAheLk=