diff --git a/crates/embucket-lambda/Makefile b/crates/embucket-lambda/Makefile
index fc71cc79..d60d679b 100644
--- a/crates/embucket-lambda/Makefile
+++ b/crates/embucket-lambda/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 # Function name (override with: make deploy FUNCTION_NAME=your-function)
 FUNCTION_NAME ?= embucket-lambda
+ENV_FILE ?= .env
 # supported features: "streaming"
 FEATURES_PARAM := $(if $(FEATURES),--features $(FEATURES))
 
@@ -9,12 +10,12 @@ build:
 	cd ../.. && cargo lambda build --release --arm64 --manifest-path crates/embucket-lambda/Cargo.toml $(FEATURES_PARAM)
 
 # Deploy to AWS (must run from workspace root for include paths to work)
-deploy: build
-	cd ../.. && cargo lambda deploy --binary-name bootstrap $(FUNCTION_NAME)
+deploy: build deploy-only
+	@echo "Deployed $(FUNCTION_NAME) to AWS"
 
 # Quick deploy without rebuild
 deploy-only:
-	cd ../.. && cargo lambda deploy --binary-name bootstrap $(FUNCTION_NAME)
+	cd ../.. && cargo lambda deploy --binary-name bootstrap $(FUNCTION_NAME) --env-file $(ENV_FILE)
 
 # Watch locally for development
 watch:
diff --git a/crates/embucket-lambda/README.md b/crates/embucket-lambda/README.md
index 0f16f581..9cb44dbb 100644
--- a/crates/embucket-lambda/README.md
+++ b/crates/embucket-lambda/README.md
@@ -68,9 +68,15 @@ cargo lambda deploy --binary-name bootstrap
 **Other Settings** (in `Cargo.toml`):
 - Memory: `memory = 3008`
 - Timeout: `timeout = 30`
-- Environment variables: `[package.metadata.lambda.deploy.env]`
 - Included files: `include = ["config"]`
 
+**Environment Variables**
+- Set envs using `ENV_FILE=.env` environment variable: 
+  ``` sh
+  ENV_FILE=".env.dev" make deploy
+  ```
+- It will deploy envs from `.env` if `ENV_FILE` not specified
+
 ### Test locally
 
 ```bash