diff --git a/commands/bake.go b/commands/bake.go
index 571385058..a62e7a8b5 100644
--- a/commands/bake.go
+++ b/commands/bake.go
@@ -40,6 +40,11 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
 )
 
+const (
+	bakeEnvFileSeparator = "BUILDX_BAKE_PATH_SEPARATOR"
+	bakeEnvFilePath      = "BUILDX_BAKE_FILE"
+)
+
 type bakeOptions struct {
 	files     []string
 	overrides []string
@@ -452,6 +457,13 @@ func bakeCmd(dockerCli command.Cli, rootOpts *rootOptions) *cobra.Command {
 		Aliases: []string{"f"},
 		Short:   "Build from a file",
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			if len(options.files) == 0 {
+				envFiles, err := bakeEnvFiles(os.LookupEnv)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				options.files = envFiles
+			}
 			// reset to nil to avoid override is unset
 			if !cmd.Flags().Lookup("no-cache").Changed {
 				cFlags.noCache = nil
@@ -504,6 +516,37 @@ func bakeCmd(dockerCli command.Cli, rootOpts *rootOptions) *cobra.Command {
 	return cmd
 }
 
+func bakeEnvFiles(lookup func(string string) (string, bool)) ([]string, error) {
+	sep, _ := lookup(bakeEnvFileSeparator)
+	if sep == "" {
+		sep = string(os.PathListSeparator)
+	}
+	f, ok := lookup(bakeEnvFilePath)
+	if ok {
+		return cleanPaths(strings.Split(f, sep))
+	}
+	return []string{}, nil
+}
+
+func cleanPaths(p []string) ([]string, error) {
+	var paths []string
+	for _, f := range p {
+		f = strings.TrimSpace(f)
+		if f == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		if f == "-" {
+			paths = append(paths, f)
+			continue
+		}
+		if _, err := os.Stat(f); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		paths = append(paths, f)
+	}
+	return paths, nil
+}
+
 func saveLocalStateGroup(dockerCli command.Cli, in bakeOptions, targets []string, bo map[string]build.Options) error {
 	l, err := localstate.New(confutil.NewConfig(dockerCli))
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/docs/reference/buildx_bake.md b/docs/reference/buildx_bake.md
index ab896703a..49e5e3036 100644
--- a/docs/reference/buildx_bake.md
+++ b/docs/reference/buildx_bake.md
@@ -143,6 +143,11 @@ Use the `-f` / `--file` option to specify the build definition file to use.
 The file can be an HCL, JSON or Compose file. If multiple files are specified,
 all are read and the build configurations are combined.
 
+Alternatively, the environment variable `BUILDX_BAKE_FILE` can be used to specify the build definition to use.
+This is mutually exclusive with `-f` / `--file`; if both are specified, the environment variable is ignored.
+Multiple definitions can be specified by separating them with the system's path separator
+(typically `;` on Windows and `:` elsewhere), but can be changed with `BUILDX_BAKE_PATH_SEPARATOR`.
+
 You can pass the names of the targets to build, to build only specific target(s).
 The following example builds the `db` and `webapp-release` targets that are
 defined in the `docker-bake.dev.hcl` file:
diff --git a/tests/bake.go b/tests/bake.go
index fa6e2f4dd..f141f314f 100644
--- a/tests/bake.go
+++ b/tests/bake.go
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ var bakeTests = []func(t *testing.T, sb integration.Sandbox){
 	testBakeMultiPlatform,
 	testBakeCheckCallOutput,
 	testBakeExtraHosts,
+	testBakeFileFromEnvironment,
 }
 
 func testBakePrint(t *testing.T, sb integration.Sandbox) {
@@ -2188,6 +2189,165 @@ target "default" {
 	require.NoError(t, err, out)
 }
 
+func testBakeFileFromEnvironment(t *testing.T, sb integration.Sandbox) {
+	bakeFileFirst := []byte(`
+target "first" {
+  dockerfile-inline = "FROM scratch\nCOPY first /"
+}
+`)
+	bakeFileSecond := []byte(`
+target "second" {
+  dockerfile-inline = "FROM scratch\nCOPY second /"
+}
+`)
+
+	t.Run("single file", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := tmpdir(t,
+			fstest.CreateFile("first.hcl", bakeFileFirst, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("first", []byte("first"), 0600),
+		)
+		cmd := buildxCmd(sb,
+			withDir(dir),
+			withArgs("bake", "--progress=plain", "first"),
+			withEnv("BUILDX_BAKE_FILE=first.hcl"))
+
+		dt, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		require.NoError(t, err, string(dt))
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 [internal] load local bake definitions`)
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 reading first.hcl`)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("single file, default ignored if present", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := tmpdir(t,
+			fstest.CreateFile("first.hcl", bakeFileFirst, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("first", []byte("first"), 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("docker-bake.hcl", []byte("invalid bake file"), 0600),
+		)
+		cmd := buildxCmd(sb,
+			withDir(dir),
+			withArgs("bake", "--progress=plain", "first"),
+			withEnv("BUILDX_BAKE_FILE=first.hcl"))
+
+		dt, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		require.NoError(t, err, string(dt))
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 [internal] load local bake definitions`)
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 reading first.hcl`)
+		require.NotContains(t, string(dt), "docker-bake.hcl")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("multiple files", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := tmpdir(t,
+			fstest.CreateFile("first.hcl", bakeFileFirst, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("first", []byte("first"), 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("second.hcl", bakeFileSecond, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("second", []byte("second"), 0600),
+		)
+
+		cmd := buildxCmd(sb,
+			withDir(dir),
+			withArgs("bake", "--progress=plain", "second", "first"),
+			withEnv("BUILDX_BAKE_FILE=first.hcl"+string(os.PathListSeparator)+"second.hcl"))
+		dt, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		require.NoError(t, err, string(dt))
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 [internal] load local bake definitions`)
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 reading first.hcl`)
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 reading second.hcl`)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("multiple files, custom separator", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := tmpdir(t,
+			fstest.CreateFile("first.hcl", bakeFileFirst, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("first", []byte("first"), 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("second.hcl", bakeFileSecond, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("second", []byte("second"), 0600),
+		)
+
+		cmd := buildxCmd(sb,
+			withDir(dir),
+			withArgs("bake", "--progress=plain", "second", "first"),
+			withEnv("BUILDX_BAKE_PATH_SEPARATOR=@", "BUILDX_BAKE_FILE=first.hcl@second.hcl"))
+
+		dt, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		require.NoError(t, err, string(dt))
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 [internal] load local bake definitions`)
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 reading first.hcl`)
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 reading second.hcl`)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("multiple files, one STDIN", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := tmpdir(t,
+			fstest.CreateFile("first.hcl", bakeFileFirst, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("first", []byte("first"), 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("second", []byte("second"), 0600),
+		)
+
+		cmd := buildxCmd(sb,
+			withDir(dir),
+			withArgs("bake", "--progress=plain", "second", "first"),
+			withEnv("BUILDX_BAKE_FILE=first.hcl"+string(os.PathListSeparator)+"-"))
+		w, err := cmd.StdinPipe()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		go func() {
+			defer w.Close()
+			w.Write(bakeFileSecond)
+		}()
+
+		dt, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		require.NoError(t, err, string(dt))
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 [internal] load local bake definitions`)
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 reading first.hcl`)
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), `#1 reading from stdin`)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("env ignored if file arg passed", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := tmpdir(t,
+			fstest.CreateFile("first.hcl", bakeFileFirst, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("first", []byte("first"), 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("second.hcl", bakeFileSecond, 0600),
+		)
+		cmd := buildxCmd(sb,
+			withDir(dir),
+			withArgs("bake", "--progress=plain", "-f", "first.hcl", "first", "second"),
+			withEnv("BUILDX_BAKE_FILE=second.hcl"))
+
+		dt, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		require.Error(t, err, string(dt))
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), "failed to find target second")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("file does not exist", func(t *testing.T) {
+		dir := tmpdir(t,
+			fstest.CreateFile("first.hcl", bakeFileFirst, 0600),
+			fstest.CreateFile("first", []byte("first"), 0600),
+		)
+		cmd := buildxCmd(sb,
+			withDir(dir),
+			withArgs("bake", "--progress=plain", "first"),
+			withEnv("BUILDX_BAKE_FILE=wrong.hcl"))
+
+		dt, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		require.Error(t, err, string(dt))
+		require.Contains(t, string(dt), "wrong.hcl: no such file or directory")
+	})
+
+	for kind, val := range map[string]string{"missing": "", "whitespace": "  "} {
+		t.Run(kind+" value ignored", func(t *testing.T) {
+			dir := tmpdir(t,
+				fstest.CreateFile("first.hcl", bakeFileFirst, 0600),
+				fstest.CreateFile("first", []byte("first"), 0600),
+			)
+			cmd := buildxCmd(sb,
+				withDir(dir),
+				withArgs("bake", "--progress=plain", "first"),
+				withEnv(fmt.Sprintf("BUILDX_BAKE_FILE=%s", val)))
+
+			dt, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+			require.Error(t, err, string(dt))
+			require.Contains(t, string(dt), "couldn't find a bake definition")
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func writeTempPrivateKey(fp string) error {
 	privateKey, err := rsa.GenerateKey(rand.Reader, 2048)
 	if err != nil {