diff --git a/cmd/buildah/build.go b/cmd/buildah/build.go
index 98d74c65a..be2496209 100644
--- a/cmd/buildah/build.go
+++ b/cmd/buildah/build.go
@@ -394,6 +394,7 @@ func buildCmd(c *cobra.Command, inputArgs []string, iopts buildOptions) error {
 		Timestamp:               timestamp,
 		Platforms:               platforms,
 		UnsetEnvs:               iopts.UnsetEnvs,
+		Envs:                    iopts.Envs,
 	}
 	if iopts.Quiet {
 		options.ReportWriter = ioutil.Discard
diff --git a/cmd/buildah/config.go b/cmd/buildah/config.go
index bfb790fb6..9a147ea6f 100644
--- a/cmd/buildah/config.go
+++ b/cmd/buildah/config.go
@@ -226,7 +226,6 @@ func updateConfig(builder *buildah.Builder, c *cobra.Command, iopts configResult
 			}
 			env[1] = os.Expand(env[1], getenv)
 			builder.SetEnv(env[0], env[1])
-
 		case env[0] == "-":
 			builder.ClearEnv()
 		case strings.HasSuffix(env[0], "-"):
diff --git a/commit.go b/commit.go
index 1da8328f8..ca597e222 100644
--- a/commit.go
+++ b/commit.go
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ type CommitOptions struct {
 	// indexing. i.e. 0 is the first layer, -1 is the last (top-most) layer.
 	OciEncryptLayers *[]int
 	// UnsetEnvs is a list of environments to not add to final image.
+	// Deprecated: use UnsetEnv() before committing instead.
 	UnsetEnvs []string
 }
 
diff --git a/define/build.go b/define/build.go
index 2cb92e811..d9eb53aeb 100644
--- a/define/build.go
+++ b/define/build.go
@@ -260,4 +260,6 @@ type BuildOptions struct {
 	AllPlatforms bool
 	// UnsetEnvs is a list of environments to not add to final image.
 	UnsetEnvs []string
+	// Envs is a list of environment variables to set in the final image.
+	Envs []string
 }
diff --git a/docs/buildah-build.1.md b/docs/buildah-build.1.md
index eb80472cf..671c3dab5 100644
--- a/docs/buildah-build.1.md
+++ b/docs/buildah-build.1.md
@@ -241,6 +241,14 @@ Set custom DNS options
 
 Set custom DNS search domains
 
+**--env** *env[=value]*
+
+Add a value (e.g. env=*value*) to the built image.  Can be used multiple times.
+If neither `=` nor a `*value*` are specified, but *env* is set in the current
+environment, the value from the current environment will be added to the image.
+To remove an environment variable from the built image, use the `--unsetenv`
+option.
+
 **--file**, **-f** *Containerfile*
 
 Specifies a Containerfile which contains instructions for building the image,
@@ -829,6 +837,12 @@ buildah build -f Containerfile.in -t imageName .
 
 buildah build --network mynet .
 
+buildah build --env LANG=en_US.UTF-8 -t imageName .
+
+buildah build --env EDITOR -t imageName .
+
+buildah build --unsetenv LANG -t imageName .
+
 ### Building an multi-architecture image using the --manifest option (requires emulation software)
 
 buildah build --arch arm --manifest myimage /tmp/mysrc
diff --git a/docs/buildah-config.1.md b/docs/buildah-config.1.md
index 55c752e90..9fe35186d 100644
--- a/docs/buildah-config.1.md
+++ b/docs/buildah-config.1.md
@@ -77,10 +77,12 @@ ignore the `cmd` value of the container image.  However if you use the array
 form, then the cmd will be appended onto the end of the entrypoint cmd and be
 executed together.
 
-**--env**, **-e** *env=value*
+**--env**, **-e** *env[=value]*
 
 Add a value (e.g. env=*value*) to the environment for containers based on any
 images which will be built using the specified container. Can be used multiple times.
+If *env* is named but neither `=` nor a `value` is specified, then the value
+will be taken from the current process environment.
 If *env* has a trailing `-`, then the *env* is removed from the config.
 If the *env* is set to "-" then all environment variables are removed from the config.
 
@@ -229,6 +231,8 @@ buildah config --volume /usr/myvol- containerID
 
 buildah config --port 1234 --port 8080 containerID
 
+buildah config --env 1234=5678 containerID
+
 buildah config --env 1234- containerID
 
 ## SEE ALSO
diff --git a/imagebuildah/executor.go b/imagebuildah/executor.go
index 51bc0bb6a..4525163cd 100644
--- a/imagebuildah/executor.go
+++ b/imagebuildah/executor.go
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ type Executor struct {
 	processLabel            string // Shares processLabel of first stage container with containers of other stages in same build
 	mountLabel              string // Shares mountLabel of first stage container with containers of other stages in same build
 	buildOutput             string // Specifies instructions for any custom build output
+	envs                    []string
 }
 
 type imageTypeAndHistoryAndDiffIDs struct {
@@ -276,8 +277,9 @@ func newExecutor(logger *logrus.Logger, logPrefix string, store storage.Store, o
 		secrets:                        secrets,
 		sshsources:                     sshsources,
 		logPrefix:                      logPrefix,
-		unsetEnvs:                      options.UnsetEnvs,
+		unsetEnvs:                      append([]string{}, options.UnsetEnvs...),
 		buildOutput:                    options.BuildOutput,
+		envs:                           append([]string{}, options.Envs...),
 	}
 	if exec.err == nil {
 		exec.err = os.Stderr
diff --git a/imagebuildah/stage_executor.go b/imagebuildah/stage_executor.go
index 3750edfc6..70981ae67 100644
--- a/imagebuildah/stage_executor.go
+++ b/imagebuildah/stage_executor.go
@@ -1494,6 +1494,28 @@ func (s *StageExecutor) commit(ctx context.Context, createdBy string, emptyLayer
 		spec := strings.SplitN(envSpec, "=", 2)
 		s.builder.SetEnv(spec[0], spec[1])
 	}
+	for _, envSpec := range s.executor.envs {
+		env := strings.SplitN(envSpec, "=", 2)
+		if len(env) > 1 {
+			getenv := func(name string) string {
+				for _, envvar := range s.builder.Env() {
+					val := strings.SplitN(envvar, "=", 2)
+					if len(val) == 2 && val[0] == name {
+						return val[1]
+					}
+				}
+				logrus.Errorf("error expanding variable %q: no value set in image", name)
+				return name
+			}
+			env[1] = os.Expand(env[1], getenv)
+			s.builder.SetEnv(env[0], env[1])
+		} else {
+			s.builder.SetEnv(env[0], os.Getenv(env[0]))
+		}
+	}
+	for _, envSpec := range s.executor.unsetEnvs {
+		s.builder.UnsetEnv(envSpec)
+	}
 	s.builder.SetCmd(config.Cmd)
 	s.builder.ClearVolumes()
 	for v := range config.Volumes {
@@ -1566,7 +1588,6 @@ func (s *StageExecutor) commit(ctx context.Context, createdBy string, emptyLayer
 		RetryDelay:            s.executor.retryPullPushDelay,
 		HistoryTimestamp:      s.executor.timestamp,
 		Manifest:              s.executor.manifest,
-		UnsetEnvs:             s.executor.unsetEnvs,
 	}
 	// generate build output
 	if s.executor.buildOutput != "" {
diff --git a/pkg/cli/common.go b/pkg/cli/common.go
index cc57b1e0f..38b9b9025 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/common.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/common.go
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ type BudResults struct {
 	LogRusage           bool
 	RusageLogFile       string
 	UnsetEnvs           []string
+	Envs                []string
 }
 
 // FromAndBugResults represents the results for common flags
@@ -194,6 +195,7 @@ func GetBudFlags(flags *BudResults) pflag.FlagSet {
 	fs.StringVar(&flags.Creds, "creds", "", "use `[username[:password]]` for accessing the registry")
 	fs.BoolVarP(&flags.DisableCompression, "disable-compression", "D", true, "don't compress layers by default")
 	fs.BoolVar(&flags.DisableContentTrust, "disable-content-trust", false, "This is a Docker specific option and is a NOOP")
+	fs.StringArrayVar(&flags.Envs, "env", []string{}, "set environment variable for the image")
 	fs.StringVar(&flags.From, "from", "", "image name used to replace the value in the first FROM instruction in the Containerfile")
 	fs.StringVar(&flags.IgnoreFile, "ignorefile", "", "path to an alternate .dockerignore file")
 	fs.StringSliceVarP(&flags.File, "file", "f", []string{}, "`pathname or URL` of a Dockerfile")
@@ -262,6 +264,7 @@ func GetBudFlagsCompletions() commonComp.FlagCompletions {
 	flagCompletion["cache-from"] = commonComp.AutocompleteNone
 	flagCompletion["cert-dir"] = commonComp.AutocompleteDefault
 	flagCompletion["creds"] = commonComp.AutocompleteNone
+	flagCompletion["env"] = commonComp.AutocompleteNone
 	flagCompletion["file"] = commonComp.AutocompleteDefault
 	flagCompletion["from"] = commonComp.AutocompleteDefault
 	flagCompletion["format"] = commonComp.AutocompleteNone
diff --git a/tests/bud.bats b/tests/bud.bats
index ce459c61e..2df6b06c2 100644
--- a/tests/bud.bats
+++ b/tests/bud.bats
@@ -582,6 +582,25 @@ _EOF
   expect_output "[container=buildah date=tomorrow]" "No Path should be defined"
 }
 
+@test "bud with --env" {
+  target=scratch-image
+  run_buildah build --quiet=false --iidfile ${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/output.iid --env PATH $WITH_POLICY_JSON -t ${target} $BUDFILES/from-scratch
+  iid=$(cat ${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/output.iid)
+  run_buildah inspect --format '{{.Docker.Config.Env}}' $iid
+  expect_output "[PATH=$PATH]"
+
+  run_buildah build --quiet=false --iidfile ${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/output.iid --env PATH=foo $WITH_POLICY_JSON -t ${target} $BUDFILES/from-scratch
+  iid=$(cat ${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/output.iid)
+  run_buildah inspect --format '{{.Docker.Config.Env}}' $iid
+  expect_output "[PATH=foo]"
+
+  # --unsetenv takes precedence over --env, since we don't know the relative order of the two
+  run_buildah build --quiet=false --iidfile ${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/output.iid --unsetenv PATH --env PATH=foo --env PATH= $WITH_POLICY_JSON -t ${target} $BUDFILES/from-scratch
+  iid=$(cat ${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/output.iid)
+  run_buildah inspect --format '{{.Docker.Config.Env}}' $iid
+  expect_output "[]"
+}
+
 @test "build with custom build output and output rootfs to directory" {
   _prefetch alpine
   mytmpdir=${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/my-dir
@@ -659,7 +678,7 @@ _EOF
   expect_output "" "no base name for untagged base image"
 }
 
-@test "bud with --tag " {
+@test "bud with --tag" {
   target=scratch-image
   run_buildah build --quiet=false --tag test1 $WITH_POLICY_JSON -t ${target} $BUDFILES/from-scratch
   expect_output --substring "Successfully tagged localhost/test1:latest"
@@ -669,7 +688,7 @@ _EOF
   expect_output --substring "Successfully tagged localhost/test2:latest"
 }
 
-@test "bud with bad --tag " {
+@test "bud with bad --tag" {
   target=scratch-image
   run_buildah 125 build --quiet=false --tag TEST1 $WITH_POLICY_JSON -t ${target} $BUDFILES/from-scratch
   expect_output --substring "tag TEST1: invalid reference format: repository name must be lowercase"