diff --git a/podman_compose.py b/podman_compose.py
index a0ea0587..cd2f3031 100755
--- a/podman_compose.py
+++ b/podman_compose.py
@@ -2302,15 +2302,16 @@ def _parse_compose_file(self) -> None:
 
         # env-file is relative to the CWD
         dotenv_dict = {}
-        if args.env_file:
+        if args.env_file is None or len(args.env_file) == 0:
             # Load .env from the Compose file's directory to preserve
             # behavior prior to 1.1.0 and to match with Docker Compose (v2).
-            if ".env" == args.env_file:
-                project_dotenv_file = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(dirname, ".env"))
-                if os.path.exists(project_dotenv_file):
-                    dotenv_dict.update(dotenv_to_dict(project_dotenv_file))
-            dotenv_path = os.path.realpath(args.env_file)
-            dotenv_dict.update(dotenv_to_dict(dotenv_path))
+            project_dotenv_file = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(dirname, ".env"))
+            if os.path.exists(project_dotenv_file):
+                dotenv_dict.update(dotenv_to_dict(project_dotenv_file))
+        else:
+            for env_file in args.env_file:
+                dotenv_path = os.path.realpath(env_file)
+                dotenv_dict.update(dotenv_to_dict(dotenv_path))
 
         os.environ.update({
             key: value  # type: ignore[misc]
@@ -2689,8 +2690,8 @@ def _init_global_parser(parser: argparse.ArgumentParser) -> None:
             "--env-file",
             help="Specify an alternate environment file",
             metavar="env_file",
-            type=str,
-            default=".env",
+            action="append",
+            default=[],
         )
         parser.add_argument(
             "-f",
diff --git a/tests/integration/env_file_tests/project/container-compose.yaml b/tests/integration/env_file_tests/project/container-compose.yaml
index bd6a6bf3..1f48e9a3 100644
--- a/tests/integration/env_file_tests/project/container-compose.yaml
+++ b/tests/integration/env_file_tests/project/container-compose.yaml
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ services:
       - /tmp
     environment:
       ZZVAR1: $ZZVAR1
+      ZZVAR3: $ZZVAR3
diff --git a/tests/integration/env_file_tests/test_podman_compose_env_file.py b/tests/integration/env_file_tests/test_podman_compose_env_file.py
index 95038de9..542f2f0e 100644
--- a/tests/integration/env_file_tests/test_podman_compose_env_file.py
+++ b/tests/integration/env_file_tests/test_podman_compose_env_file.py
@@ -35,7 +35,40 @@ def test_path_env_file_inline(self) -> None:
                 "--no-color",
             ])
             # takes only value ZZVAR1 as container-compose.yaml file requires
-            self.assertEqual(output, b"ZZVAR1=podman-rocks-123\n")
+            self.assertEqual(output, b"ZZVAR1=podman-rocks-123\nZZVAR3=podman-rocks-125\n")
+        finally:
+            self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode([
+                podman_compose_path(),
+                "-f",
+                path_compose_file,
+                "down",
+            ])
+
+    def test_path_env_file_inline_many(self) -> None:
+        # Test taking env variable value directly from env-file when its path is inline path
+        base_path = compose_base_path()
+        path_compose_file = os.path.join(base_path, "project/container-compose.yaml")
+        try:
+            self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode([
+                podman_compose_path(),
+                "-f",
+                path_compose_file,
+                "--env-file",
+                os.path.join(base_path, "env-files/project-1.env"),
+                "--env-file",
+                os.path.join(base_path, "env-files/project-2.env"),
+                "up",
+            ])
+            output, _ = self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode([
+                podman_compose_path(),
+                "-f",
+                path_compose_file,
+                "logs",
+                "--no-log-prefix",
+                "--no-color",
+            ])
+            # takes only value ZZVAR1 as container-compose.yaml file requires
+            self.assertEqual(output, b"ZZVAR1=podman-rocks-223\nZZVAR3=podman-rocks-125\n")
         finally:
             self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode([
                 podman_compose_path(),
@@ -207,7 +240,7 @@ def test_var_value_inline_overrides_env_file_path_inline(self) -> None:
                 "--no-color",
             ])
             # takes only value ZZVAR1 as container-compose.yaml file requires
-            self.assertEqual(output, b"ZZVAR1=podman-rocks-321\n")
+            self.assertEqual(output, b"ZZVAR1=podman-rocks-321\nZZVAR3=podman-rocks-125\n")
         finally:
             self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode([
                 podman_compose_path(),