diff --git a/lib/kamal/cli/base.rb b/lib/kamal/cli/base.rb
index 8032a4cb..16a8c915 100644
--- a/lib/kamal/cli/base.rb
+++ b/lib/kamal/cli/base.rb
@@ -44,9 +44,22 @@ module Kamal::Cli
 
       def load_env
         if destination = options[:destination]
-          Dotenv.load(".env.#{destination}", ".env")
+          if File.exist?(".kamal/env.#{destination}") || File.exist?(".kamal/env")
+            Dotenv.load(".kamal/env.#{destination}", ".kamal/env")
+          else
+            loading_files = [ (".env" if File.exist?(".env")), (".env.#{destination}" if File.exist?(".env.#{destination}")) ].compact
+            if loading_files.any?
+              warn "Loading #{loading_files.join(" and ")} from the project root, use .kamal/env* instead"
+              Dotenv.load(".env.#{destination}", ".env")
+            end
+          end
         else
-          Dotenv.load(".env")
+          if File.exist?(".kamal/env")
+            Dotenv.load(".kamal/env")
+          elsif File.exist?(".env")
+            warn "Loading .env from the project root is deprecated, use .kamal/env instead"
+            Dotenv.load(".env")
+          end
         end
       end
 
diff --git a/lib/kamal/cli/main.rb b/lib/kamal/cli/main.rb
index 598d6c42..08c0e714 100644
--- a/lib/kamal/cli/main.rb
+++ b/lib/kamal/cli/main.rb
@@ -183,11 +183,25 @@ class Kamal::Cli::Main < Kamal::Cli::Base
   option :skip_push, aliases: "-P", type: :boolean, default: false, desc: "Skip .env file push"
   def envify
     if destination = options[:destination]
-      env_template_path = ".env.#{destination}.erb"
-      env_path          = ".env.#{destination}"
+      env_template_path = ".kamal/env.#{destination}.erb"
+      env_path          = ".kamal/env.#{destination}"
     else
-      env_template_path = ".env.erb"
-      env_path          = ".env"
+      env_template_path = ".kamal/env.erb"
+      env_path          = ".kamal/env"
+    end
+
+    unless Pathname.new(File.expand_path(env_template_path)).exist?
+      if destination = options[:destination]
+        env_template_path = ".env.#{destination}.erb"
+        env_path          = ".env.#{destination}"
+      else
+        env_template_path = ".env.erb"
+        env_path          = ".env"
+      end
+
+      if Pathname.new(File.expand_path(env_template_path)).exist?
+        warn "Loading #{env_template_path} from the project root is deprecated, use .kamal/env[.<DESTINATION>].erb instead"
+      end
     end
 
     if Pathname.new(File.expand_path(env_template_path)).exist?
diff --git a/test/cli/main_test.rb b/test/cli/main_test.rb
index 2b87191c..a93320b3 100644
--- a/test/cli/main_test.rb
+++ b/test/cli/main_test.rb
@@ -439,9 +439,9 @@ class CliMainTest < CliTestCase
   end
 
   test "envify" do
-    with_test_dotenv(".env.erb": "HELLO=<%= 'world' %>") do
+    with_test_env_files("env.erb": "HELLO=<%= 'world' %>") do
       run_command("envify")
-      assert_equal("HELLO=world", File.read(".env"))
+      assert_equal("HELLO=world", File.read(".kamal/env"))
     end
   end
 
@@ -453,32 +453,32 @@ class CliMainTest < CliTestCase
       <% end -%>
     EOF
 
-    with_test_dotenv(".env.erb": file) do
+    with_test_env_files("env.erb": file) do
       run_command("envify")
-      assert_equal("HELLO=world\nKEY=value\n", File.read(".env"))
+      assert_equal("HELLO=world\nKEY=value\n", File.read(".kamal/env"))
     end
   end
 
   test "envify with destination" do
-    with_test_dotenv(".env.world.erb": "HELLO=<%= 'world' %>") do
+    with_test_env_files("env.world.erb": "HELLO=<%= 'world' %>") do
       run_command("envify", "-d", "world", config_file: "deploy_for_dest")
-      assert_equal "HELLO=world", File.read(".env.world")
+      assert_equal "HELLO=world", File.read(".kamal/env.world")
     end
   end
 
   test "envify with skip_push" do
-    Pathname.any_instance.expects(:exist?).returns(true).times(1)
-    File.expects(:read).with(".env.erb").returns("HELLO=<%= 'world' %>")
-    File.expects(:write).with(".env", "HELLO=world", perm: 0600)
+    Pathname.any_instance.expects(:exist?).returns(true).times(2)
+    File.expects(:read).with(".kamal/env.erb").returns("HELLO=<%= 'world' %>")
+    File.expects(:write).with(".kamal/env", "HELLO=world", perm: 0600)
 
     Kamal::Cli::Main.any_instance.expects(:invoke).with("kamal:cli:env:push").never
     run_command("envify", "--skip-push")
   end
 
   test "envify with clean env" do
-    with_test_dotenv(".env": "HELLO=already", ".env.erb": "HELLO=<%= ENV.fetch 'HELLO', 'never' %>") do
+    with_test_env_files("env": "HELLO=already", "env.erb": "HELLO=<%= ENV.fetch 'HELLO', 'never' %>") do
       run_command("envify", "--skip-push")
-      assert_equal "HELLO=never", File.read(".env")
+      assert_equal "HELLO=never", File.read(".kamal/env")
     end
   end
 
@@ -572,15 +572,18 @@ class CliMainTest < CliTestCase
       end
     end
 
-    def with_test_dotenv(**files)
+    def with_test_env_files(**files)
       Dir.mktmpdir do |dir|
         fixtures_dup = File.join(dir, "test")
         FileUtils.mkdir_p(fixtures_dup)
         FileUtils.cp_r("test/fixtures/", fixtures_dup)
 
         Dir.chdir(dir) do
-          files.each do |filename, contents|
-            File.binwrite(filename.to_s, contents)
+          FileUtils.mkdir_p(".kamal")
+          Dir.chdir(".kamal") do
+            files.each do |filename, contents|
+              File.binwrite(filename.to_s, contents)
+            end
           end
           yield
         end
diff --git a/test/integration/docker/deployer/app/.env.erb b/test/integration/docker/deployer/app/.kamal/env.erb
similarity index 100%
rename from test/integration/docker/deployer/app/.env.erb
rename to test/integration/docker/deployer/app/.kamal/env.erb
diff --git a/test/integration/docker/deployer/app_with_roles/.env.erb b/test/integration/docker/deployer/app_with_roles/.kamal/env.erb
similarity index 100%
rename from test/integration/docker/deployer/app_with_roles/.env.erb
rename to test/integration/docker/deployer/app_with_roles/.kamal/env.erb
diff --git a/test/integration/main_test.rb b/test/integration/main_test.rb
index a1e81493..5525faa5 100644
--- a/test/integration/main_test.rb
+++ b/test/integration/main_test.rb
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ class MainTest < IntegrationTest
 
   private
     def assert_local_env_file(contents)
-      assert_equal contents, deployer_exec("cat .env", capture: true)
+      assert_equal contents, deployer_exec("cat .kamal/env", capture: true)
     end
 
     def assert_envs(version:)
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class MainTest < IntegrationTest
     end
 
     def remove_local_env_file
-      deployer_exec("rm .env")
+      deployer_exec("rm .kamal/env")
     end
 
     def assert_remote_env_file(contents, vm:)