diff --git a/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_kraftfile_runtime.go b/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_kraftfile_runtime.go
index 35316f1ce..598860012 100644
--- a/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_kraftfile_runtime.go
+++ b/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_kraftfile_runtime.go
@@ -340,9 +340,12 @@ func (runner *runnerKraftfileRuntime) Prepare(ctx context.Context, opts *RunOpti
 			}
 
 			for _, entry := range runtime.Initrd().Env() {
-				split := strings.SplitN(entry, "=", 2)
+				k, v, ok := strings.Cut(entry, "=")
+				if !ok {
+					continue
+				}
 
-				machine.Spec.Env[split[0]] = split[1]
+				machine.Spec.Env[k] = v
 			}
 
 			machine.Spec.ApplicationArgs = runtime.Initrd().Args()
diff --git a/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_package.go b/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_package.go
index 390d5884e..5fd1f7765 100644
--- a/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_package.go
+++ b/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_package.go
@@ -345,13 +345,12 @@ func (runner *runnerPackage) Prepare(ctx context.Context, opts *RunOptions, mach
 		}
 
 		for _, env := range v.Config.Env {
-			if strings.ContainsRune(env, '=') {
-				parts := strings.SplitN(env, "=", 2)
-				machine.Spec.Env[parts[0]] = parts[1]
+			k, v, ok := strings.Cut(env, "=")
+			if !ok {
 				continue
 			}
 
-			machine.Spec.Env[env] = ""
+			machine.Spec.Env[k] = v
 		}
 	default:
 	}
diff --git a/internal/cli/kraft/run/utils.go b/internal/cli/kraft/run/utils.go
index 99bbb2021..5d199dd61 100644
--- a/internal/cli/kraft/run/utils.go
+++ b/internal/cli/kraft/run/utils.go
@@ -396,9 +396,12 @@ func (opts *RunOptions) prepareRootfs(ctx context.Context, machine *machineapi.M
 				}
 
 				for _, entry := range ramfs.Env() {
-					split := strings.SplitN(entry, "=", 2)
+					k, v, ok := strings.Cut(entry, "=")
+					if !ok {
+						continue
+					}
 
-					machine.Spec.Env[split[0]] = split[1]
+					machine.Spec.Env[k] = v
 				}
 
 				machine.Spec.ApplicationArgs = ramfs.Args()
@@ -429,9 +432,8 @@ func (opts *RunOptions) parseKraftfileEnv(_ context.Context, project app.Applica
 			continue
 		}
 
-		hostVal := os.Getenv(k)
-		if hostVal != "" {
-			machine.Spec.Env[k] = hostVal
+		if v, ok := os.LookupEnv(k); ok {
+			machine.Spec.Env[k] = v
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -444,11 +446,11 @@ func (opts *RunOptions) parseEnvs(_ context.Context, machine *machineapi.Machine
 	}
 
 	for _, env := range opts.Env {
-		if strings.ContainsRune(env, '=') {
-			split := strings.SplitN(env, "=", 2)
-			machine.Spec.Env[split[0]] = split[1]
-		} else {
-			machine.Spec.Env[env] = os.Getenv(env)
+		k, v, ok := strings.Cut(env, "=")
+		if ok {
+			machine.Spec.Env[k] = v
+		} else if v, ok := os.LookupEnv(k); ok {
+			machine.Spec.Env[k] = v
 		}
 	}