diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/container.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/container.go
index ba249ddc763..0916f7fdbb2 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/container.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/container.go
@@ -187,7 +187,9 @@ func CompleteSpec(ctx context.Context, r *libpod.Runtime, s *specgen.SpecGenerat
 		defaultEnvs["TERM"] = "xterm"
 	}
 
-	for _, e := range s.EnvMerge {
+	envMergeList := append(rtc.Containers.EnvMerge, s.EnvMerge...)
+
+	for _, e := range envMergeList {
 		processedWord, err := imagebuilder.ProcessWord(e, envLib.Slice(defaultEnvs))
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to process variables for --env-merge %s: %w", e, err)
diff --git a/test/e2e/config/containers.conf b/test/e2e/config/containers.conf
index f4415e99a35..5b30237977f 100644
--- a/test/e2e/config/containers.conf
+++ b/test/e2e/config/containers.conf
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ env = [
     "foo=bar",
 ]
 
+env_merge = [
+	"PODMAN_TEST_VAR=${PODMAN_TEST_VAR}-merged"
+]
+
 # container engines use container separation using MAC(SELinux) labeling.
 # Flag is ignored on label disabled systems.
 #
diff --git a/test/e2e/containers_conf_test.go b/test/e2e/containers_conf_test.go
index 85b1ad7de7b..f621943a668 100644
--- a/test/e2e/containers_conf_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/containers_conf_test.go
@@ -116,6 +116,18 @@ var _ = Describe("Verify podman containers.conf usage", func() {
 		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring("foo=bar"))
 	})
 
+	It("having env_merge from containers.conf", func() {
+		dockerfile := `FROM quay.io/libpod/alpine:latest
+	ENV PODMAN_TEST_VAR=original
+	`
+		podmanTest.BuildImage(dockerfile, "test-env-merge", "false")
+
+		session := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"run", "--rm", "test-env-merge", "printenv", "PODMAN_TEST_VAR"})
+		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
+		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(Equal("original-merged"))
+	})
+
 	It("additional devices", func() {
 		// containers.conf devices includes notone
 		session := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"run", "--device", "/dev/null:/dev/bar", ALPINE, "ls", "/dev"})