diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index abd5cd41..bfd140c6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. See [standard-version](https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version) for commit guidelines.
 
-## [Unreleased](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/compare/v16.1.0...master)
+## [Unreleased](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/compare/v16.2.0...master)
+
+## [16.2.0](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/compare/v16.1.4...v16.2.0) (2023-06-15)
 
 ### Added
 
+- Optionally write to your own target object rather than `process.env`. Defaults to `process.env`. [#753](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/pull/753)
 - Add import type URL to types file [#751](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/pull/751)
 
 ## [16.1.4](https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv/compare/v16.1.3...v16.1.4) (2023-06-04)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 13f7e05a..f9a60045 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ You can additionally, pass options to `config`.
 
 #### Options
 
-##### Path
+##### path
 
 Default: `path.resolve(process.cwd(), '.env')`
 
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ Specify a custom path if your file containing environment variables is located e
 require('dotenv').config({ path: '/custom/path/to/.env' })
 ```
 
-##### Encoding
+##### encoding
 
 Default: `utf8`
 
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ Specify the encoding of your file containing environment variables.
 require('dotenv').config({ encoding: 'latin1' })
 ```
 
-##### Debug
+##### debug
 
 Default: `false`
 
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ Turn on logging to help debug why certain keys or values are not being set as yo
 require('dotenv').config({ debug: process.env.DEBUG })
 ```
 
-##### Override
+##### override
 
 Default: `false`
 
@@ -323,6 +323,20 @@ Override any environment variables that have already been set on your machine wi
 require('dotenv').config({ override: true })
 ```
 
+##### processEnv
+
+Default: `process.env`
+
+Specify an object to write your secrets to. Defaults to `process.env` environment variables.
+
+```js
+const myObject = {}
+require('dotenv').config({ processEnv: myObject })
+
+console.log(myObject) // values from .env or .env.vault live here now.
+console.log(process.env) // this was not changed or written to
+```
+
 ### Parse
 
 The engine which parses the contents of your file containing environment
@@ -338,7 +352,7 @@ console.log(typeof config, config) // object { BASIC : 'basic' }
 
 #### Options
 
-##### Debug
+##### debug
 
 Default: `false`
 
@@ -379,7 +393,7 @@ dotenv.populate(target, parsed, { override: true, debug: true })
 console.log(target) // { HELLO: 'universe' }
 ```
 
-#### Options
+#### options
 
 ##### Debug
 
@@ -387,12 +401,28 @@ Default: `false`
 
 Turn on logging to help debug why certain keys or values are not being populated as you expect.
 
-##### Override
+##### override
 
 Default: `false`
 
 Override any environment variables that have already been set.
 
+### Decrypt
+
+The engine which decrypts the ciphertext contents of your .env.vault file is available for use. It accepts a ciphertext and a decryption key. It uses AES-256-GCM encryption.
+
+For example, decrypting a simple ciphertext:
+
+```js
+const dotenv = require('dotenv')
+const ciphertext = 's7NYXa809k/bVSPwIAmJhPJmEGTtU0hG58hOZy7I0ix6y5HP8LsHBsZCYC/gw5DDFy5DgOcyd18R'
+const decryptionKey = 'ddcaa26504cd70a6fef9801901c3981538563a1767c297cb8416e8a38c62fe00'
+
+const decrypted = dotenv.decrypt(ciphertext, decryptionKey)
+
+console.log(decrypted) // # development@v6\nALPHA="zeta"
+```
+
 ## ❓ FAQ
 
 ### Why is the `.env` file not loading my environment variables successfully?
diff --git a/lib/main.js b/lib/main.js
index 367d02e7..69cb939f 100644
--- a/lib/main.js
+++ b/lib/main.js
@@ -162,7 +162,12 @@ function _configVault (options) {
 
   const parsed = DotenvModule._parseVault(options)
 
-  DotenvModule.populate(process.env, parsed, options)
+  let processEnv = process.env
+  if (options && options.processEnv != null) {
+    processEnv = options.processEnv
+  }
+
+  DotenvModule.populate(processEnv, parsed, options)
 
   return { parsed }
 }
@@ -185,7 +190,12 @@ function configDotenv (options) {
     // Specifying an encoding returns a string instead of a buffer
     const parsed = DotenvModule.parse(fs.readFileSync(dotenvPath, { encoding }))
 
-    DotenvModule.populate(process.env, parsed, options)
+    let processEnv = process.env
+    if (options && options.processEnv != null) {
+      processEnv = options.processEnv
+    }
+
+    DotenvModule.populate(processEnv, parsed, options)
 
     return { parsed }
   } catch (e) {
diff --git a/tests/test-config-vault.js b/tests/test-config-vault.js
index 16d3e774..d8cd313c 100644
--- a/tests/test-config-vault.js
+++ b/tests/test-config-vault.js
@@ -194,6 +194,21 @@ t.test('does write over keys already in process.env if override turned on', ct =
   ct.equal(process.env.ALPHA, 'zeta')
 })
 
+t.test('can write to a different object rather than process.env', ct => {
+  ct.plan(3)
+
+  process.env.ALPHA = 'other' // reset process.env
+
+  logStub = sinon.stub(console, 'log')
+
+  const myObject = {}
+
+  const result = dotenv.config({ path: testPath, processEnv: myObject })
+  ct.equal(result.parsed.ALPHA, 'zeta')
+  ct.equal(process.env.ALPHA, 'other')
+  ct.equal(myObject.ALPHA, 'zeta')
+})
+
 t.test('logs when debug and override are turned on', ct => {
   ct.plan(1)
 
diff --git a/tests/test-config.js b/tests/test-config.js
index ea390a5e..65ef1433 100644
--- a/tests/test-config.js
+++ b/tests/test-config.js
@@ -135,6 +135,20 @@ t.test(
   }
 )
 
+t.test('can write to a different object rather than process.env', ct => {
+  ct.plan(3)
+
+  process.env.test = 'other' // reset process.env
+
+  const myObject = {}
+  const env = dotenv.config({ processEnv: myObject })
+
+  ct.equal(env.parsed && env.parsed.test, mockParseResponse.test)
+  console.log('logging', process.env.test)
+  ct.equal(process.env.test, 'other')
+  ct.equal(myObject.test, mockParseResponse.test)
+})
+
 t.test('returns parsed object', ct => {
   ct.plan(2)