diff --git a/packages/wxt/package.json b/packages/wxt/package.json
index 9ae1c4f4..38b4d0ca 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/package.json
+++ b/packages/wxt/package.json
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@
     "ci-info": "^4.4.0",
     "consola": "^3.4.2",
     "defu": "^6.1.4",
-    "dotenv": "^17.3.1",
     "dotenv-expand": "^12.0.3",
     "esbuild": "^0.27.1",
     "filesize": "^11.0.13",
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/env.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/env.ts
index 8a586b35..38871ca5 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/env.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/env.ts
@@ -1,23 +1,45 @@
-import { config } from 'dotenv';
+import { readFileSync, existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { parseEnv } from 'node:util';
 import { expand } from 'dotenv-expand';
 import type { TargetBrowser } from '../../types';
 
 /** Load environment files based on the current mode and browser. */
 export function loadEnv(mode: string, browser: TargetBrowser) {
-  return expand(
-    config({
-      quiet: true,
-      // Files on top override files below
-      path: [
-        `.env.${mode}.${browser}.local`,
-        `.env.${mode}.${browser}`,
-        `.env.${browser}.local`,
-        `.env.${browser}`,
-        `.env.${mode}.local`,
-        `.env.${mode}`,
-        `.env.local`,
-        `.env`,
-      ],
+  const envFiles = [
+    // List is ordered with general files first, specific ones last, so the more
+    // specific files override the more general ones in the loop below.
+    `.env`,
+    `.env.local`,
+    `.env.${mode}`,
+    `.env.${mode}.local`,
+    `.env.${browser}`,
+    `.env.${browser}.local`,
+    `.env.${mode}.${browser}`,
+    `.env.${mode}.${browser}.local`,
+  ];
+
+  const parsed = Object.fromEntries<string>(
+    envFiles.flatMap((filePath) => {
+      if (!existsSync(filePath)) return [];
+
+      try {
+        const content = readFileSync(filePath, 'utf-8');
+        const parsedEnv = parseEnv(content);
+        return Object.entries(parsedEnv) as [string, string][];
+      } catch {
+        return [];
+      }
     }),
   );
+
+  // Make a copy of `process.env` so that `dotenv-expand` doesn't re-assign the
+  // expanded values to the global `process.env`.
+  const processEnv = { ...process.env } as Record<string, string>;
+
+  expand({
+    parsed,
+    processEnv,
+  });
+
+  return parsed;
 }
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 2df5f796..ac1d436d 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -456,9 +456,6 @@ importers:
       defu:
         specifier: ^6.1.4
         version: 6.1.4
-      dotenv:
-        specifier: ^17.3.1
-        version: 17.3.1
       dotenv-expand:
         specifier: ^12.0.3
         version: 12.0.3