diff --git a/Readme.adoc b/Readme.adoc
index ac5b7dc..20da532 100644
--- a/Readme.adoc
+++ b/Readme.adoc
@@ -1667,6 +1667,19 @@ val sha = os.spawn(cmd = ("shasum", "-a", "256"), stdin = gzip.stdout)
 sha.stdout.trim ==> "acc142175fa520a1cb2be5b97cbbe9bea092e8bba3fe2e95afa645615908229e  -"
 ----
 
+==== Customizing the default environment
+
+Client-server CLI applications sometimes want to run subprocesses on the server based on the environment of the client.
+It is possible to customize the default environment passed to subprocesses by setting the `os.SubProcess.env` threadlocal:
+
+[source,scala]
+----
+val clientEnvironment: Map[String, String] = ???
+os.SubProcess.env.withValue(clientEnvironment) {
+  os.call(command) // clientEnvironment is passed by default instead of the system environment
+}
+----
+
 == Spawning Pipelines of Subprocesses
 
 After constructing a subprocess with `os.proc`, you can use the `pipeTo` method
diff --git a/build.sc b/build.sc
index 8ef32ea..de9903f 100644
--- a/build.sc
+++ b/build.sc
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ trait SafeDeps extends ScalaModule {
 }
 
 trait MiMaChecks extends Mima {
-  def mimaPreviousVersions = Seq("0.9.0", "0.9.1", "0.9.2", "0.9.3", "0.10.0")
+  def mimaPreviousVersions =
+    Seq("0.9.0", "0.9.1", "0.9.2", "0.9.3", "0.10.0", "0.10.1", "0.10.2", "0.10.3", "0.10.4")
   override def mimaBinaryIssueFilters: T[Seq[ProblemFilter]] = Seq(
     ProblemFilter.exclude[ReversedMissingMethodProblem]("os.PathConvertible.isCustomFs"),
     // this is fine, because ProcessLike is sealed (and its subclasses should be final)
diff --git a/os/src/ProcessOps.scala b/os/src/ProcessOps.scala
index 389b34f..267a67e 100644
--- a/os/src/ProcessOps.scala
+++ b/os/src/ProcessOps.scala
@@ -486,17 +486,28 @@ private[os] object ProcessOps {
 
     val environment = builder.environment()
 
-    if (!propagateEnv) {
-      environment.clear()
-    }
-
-    if (env != null) {
-      for ((k, v) <- env) {
-        if (v != null) builder.environment().put(k, v)
-        else builder.environment().remove(k)
+    def addToProcessEnv(env: Map[String, String]) =
+      if (env != null) {
+        for ((k, v) <- env) {
+          if (v != null) environment.put(k, v)
+          else environment.remove(k)
+        }
       }
+
+    os.SubProcess.env.value match {
+      case null =>
+        if (!propagateEnv) {
+          environment.clear()
+        }
+      case subProcessEnvValue =>
+        environment.clear()
+        if (propagateEnv) {
+          addToProcessEnv(subProcessEnvValue)
+        }
     }
 
+    addToProcessEnv(env)
+
     builder.directory(Option(cwd).getOrElse(os.pwd).toIO)
 
     builder
diff --git a/os/src/SubProcess.scala b/os/src/SubProcess.scala
index 075b2a8..120ab3f 100644
--- a/os/src/SubProcess.scala
+++ b/os/src/SubProcess.scala
@@ -162,6 +162,12 @@ class SubProcess(
 
 object SubProcess {
 
+  /**
+   * The env passed by default to child processes.
+   * When `null`, the system environment is used.
+   */
+  val env = new scala.util.DynamicVariable[Map[String, String]](null)
+
   /**
    * A [[BufferedWriter]] with the underlying [[java.io.OutputStream]] exposed
    *
diff --git a/os/test/src/SubprocessTests.scala b/os/test/src/SubprocessTests.scala
index 16eefe9..ac01bd4 100644
--- a/os/test/src/SubprocessTests.scala
+++ b/os/test/src/SubprocessTests.scala
@@ -146,6 +146,28 @@ object SubprocessTests extends TestSuite {
         }
       }
     }
+    test("envWithValue") {
+      if (Unix()) {
+        val variableName = "TEST_ENV_FOO"
+        val variableValue = "bar"
+        def envValue() = os.proc(
+          "bash",
+          "-c",
+          s"""if [ -z $${$variableName+x} ]; then echo "unset"; else echo "$$$variableName"; fi"""
+        ).call().out.lines().head
+
+        val before = envValue()
+        assert(before == "unset")
+
+        os.SubProcess.env.withValue(Map(variableName -> variableValue)) {
+          val res = envValue()
+          assert(res == variableValue)
+        }
+
+        val after = envValue()
+        assert(after == "unset")
+      }
+    }
     test("multiChunk") {
       // Make sure that in the case where multiple chunks are being read from
       // the subprocess in quick succession, we ensure that the output handler