diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3c1588f..7630be5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ jobs:
 | `FORGE_INSTALL_SSL`                | `false`         | When enabled, a Let's Encrypt SSL will be provisioned for the domain                                                       |
 | `FORGE_DEPLOY_SCRIPT`              |                 | Additional steps to add to your deploy process. Use `;` to delineate between steps (Ex: `npm install; npm run build`)      |
 | `FORGE_ENV_VARS`                   |                 | Environment variables to append (or replace if they already exist)                                                         |
+| `FORGE_INITIAL_ENV_VARS`           |                 | If you store the full .env in a single GitHub Secrets variable assigning that variable here becomes your starting point    |
 | `FORGE_COMPOSER_INSTALL_ON_MOUNT`  | `true`          | If `composer install` should be ran when the repo is mounted.                                                               |
 | `FORGE_ENABLE_DB`                  | `false`         | Whether your site needs a database. If `true` one will be created for you and shared in the post-deploy comment             |
 | `FORGE_DB_PASSWORD`                |                 | The master password for your `forge` database user. This will be placed into your project's .env automatically              |
diff --git a/app/Data/Sandbox.php b/app/Data/Sandbox.php
index 5c7c739..e502fca 100644
--- a/app/Data/Sandbox.php
+++ b/app/Data/Sandbox.php
@@ -159,6 +159,18 @@ public function updateDeployScript(): void
      */
     public function updateEnvironmentVars(): void
     {
+        // If we have initial environment variables (from GitHub secrets), let's use that as the new starting point
+        if (config('forge.initial_env_vars')) {
+            $this->forge->updateSiteEnvironmentFile(
+                config('forge.server'),
+                $this->getSite()->id,
+                config('forge.initial_env_vars')
+            );
+
+            // In case Forge is slow to update the environment file, let's wait a few seconds
+            sleep(5);
+        }
+
         $envFile = $this->forge->siteEnvironmentFile(
             config('forge.server'),
             $this->getSite()->id
diff --git a/builds/blacksmith b/builds/blacksmith
index a7fe08c..f6241dd 100755
Binary files a/builds/blacksmith and b/builds/blacksmith differ
diff --git a/config/forge.php b/config/forge.php
index 15ecd26..98a782c 100644
--- a/config/forge.php
+++ b/config/forge.php
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@
     // Additional deploy commands to run after the default deploy script
     'deploy_script' => env('FORGE_DEPLOY_SCRIPT', ''),
 
+    // If you have your environment variables set in a GitHub secrets variable this is a convenient way to make the initial .env those values
+    'initial_env_vars' => env('FORGE_INITIAL_ENV_VARS'),
+
     // Additional environment variables to set (or replace if they already exist)
     'env_vars' => env('FORGE_ENV_VARS'),