diff --git a/lib/main.js b/lib/main.js
index eb96e7fd..ea4db067 100644
--- a/lib/main.js
+++ b/lib/main.js
@@ -58,12 +58,16 @@ function config (options) {
   try {
     // specifying an encoding returns a string instead of a buffer
     var parsedObj = parse(fs.readFileSync(path, { encoding: encoding }))
+    var insertedObj = {}
 
     Object.keys(parsedObj).forEach(function (key) {
-      process.env[key] = process.env[key] || parsedObj[key]
+      var value = process.env[key] || parsedObj[key]
+
+      insertedObj[key] = value
+      process.env[key] = value
     })
 
-    return { parsed: parsedObj }
+    return { parsed: parsedObj, inserted: insertedObj }
   } catch (e) {
     return { error: e }
   }
diff --git a/test/main.js b/test/main.js
index 7d6c3cf1..89b7bc3d 100644
--- a/test/main.js
+++ b/test/main.js
@@ -82,6 +82,14 @@ describe('dotenv', function () {
       done()
     })
 
+    it('returns inserted object', function (done) {
+      var env = dotenv.config()
+
+      env.should.not.have.property('error')
+      env.inserted.should.eql({ test: 'val' })
+      done()
+    })
+
     it('returns any errors thrown from reading file or parsing', function (done) {
       readFileSyncStub.throws()