diff --git a/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/run-single-request.js b/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/run-single-request.js
index 35cafb590..87ba7d2ff 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/run-single-request.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/run-single-request.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ const { HttpProxyAgent } = require('http-proxy-agent');
 const { SocksProxyAgent } = require('socks-proxy-agent');
 const { makeAxiosInstance } = require('../utils/axios-instance');
 const { addAwsV4Interceptor, resolveAwsV4Credentials } = require('./awsv4auth-helper');
-const { shouldUseProxy, PatchedHttpsProxyAgent } = require('../utils/proxy-util');
+const { shouldUseProxy, PatchedHttpsProxyAgent, getSystemProxyEnvVariables } = require('../utils/proxy-util');
 const path = require('path');
 const { createFormData } = require('../utils/common');
 const { getCookieStringForUrl, saveCookies, shouldUseCookies } = require('../utils/cookies');
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ const runSingleRequest = async function (
   try {
     let request;
     let nextRequestName;
-    let item = { 
+    let item = {
       pathname: path.join(collectionPath, filename),
       ...bruJson
     }
@@ -140,39 +140,85 @@ const runSingleRequest = async function (
       }
     }
 
-    // set proxy if enabled
-    const proxyEnabled = get(brunoConfig, 'proxy.enabled', false);
-    const shouldProxy = shouldUseProxy(request.url, get(brunoConfig, 'proxy.bypassProxy', ''));
-    if (proxyEnabled && shouldProxy) {
-      const proxyProtocol = interpolateString(get(brunoConfig, 'proxy.protocol'), interpolationOptions);
-      const proxyHostname = interpolateString(get(brunoConfig, 'proxy.hostname'), interpolationOptions);
-      const proxyPort = interpolateString(get(brunoConfig, 'proxy.port'), interpolationOptions);
-      const proxyAuthEnabled = get(brunoConfig, 'proxy.auth.enabled', false);
-      const socksEnabled = proxyProtocol.includes('socks');
+    let proxyMode = 'off';
+    let proxyConfig = {};
 
-      let uriPort = isUndefined(proxyPort) || isNull(proxyPort) ? '' : `:${proxyPort}`;
-      let proxyUri;
-      if (proxyAuthEnabled) {
-        const proxyAuthUsername = interpolateString(get(brunoConfig, 'proxy.auth.username'), interpolationOptions);
-        const proxyAuthPassword = interpolateString(get(brunoConfig, 'proxy.auth.password'), interpolationOptions);
-
-        proxyUri = `${proxyProtocol}://${proxyAuthUsername}:${proxyAuthPassword}@${proxyHostname}${uriPort}`;
-      } else {
-        proxyUri = `${proxyProtocol}://${proxyHostname}${uriPort}`;
+    const collectionProxyConfig = get(brunoConfig, 'proxy', {});
+    const collectionProxyEnabled = get(collectionProxyConfig, 'enabled', false);
+    if (collectionProxyEnabled === true) {
+      proxyConfig = collectionProxyConfig;
+      proxyMode = 'on';
+    } else {
+      // if the collection level proxy is not set, pick the system level proxy by default, to maintain backward compatibility
+      const { http_proxy, https_proxy } = getSystemProxyEnvVariables();
+      if (http_proxy?.length || https_proxy?.length) {
+        proxyMode = 'system';
       }
+    }
 
-      if (socksEnabled) {
-        request.httpsAgent = new SocksProxyAgent(
-          proxyUri,
-          Object.keys(httpsAgentRequestFields).length > 0 ? { ...httpsAgentRequestFields } : undefined
-        );
-        request.httpAgent = new SocksProxyAgent(proxyUri);
+    if (proxyMode === 'on') {
+      const shouldProxy = shouldUseProxy(request.url, get(proxyConfig, 'bypassProxy', ''));
+      if (shouldProxy) {
+        const proxyProtocol = interpolateString(get(proxyConfig, 'protocol'), interpolationOptions);
+        const proxyHostname = interpolateString(get(proxyConfig, 'hostname'), interpolationOptions);
+        const proxyPort = interpolateString(get(proxyConfig, 'port'), interpolationOptions);
+        const proxyAuthEnabled = get(proxyConfig, 'auth.enabled', false);
+        const socksEnabled = proxyProtocol.includes('socks');
+        let uriPort = isUndefined(proxyPort) || isNull(proxyPort) ? '' : `:${proxyPort}`;
+        let proxyUri;
+        if (proxyAuthEnabled) {
+          const proxyAuthUsername = interpolateString(get(proxyConfig, 'auth.username'), interpolationOptions);
+          const proxyAuthPassword = interpolateString(get(proxyConfig, 'auth.password'), interpolationOptions);
+
+          proxyUri = `${proxyProtocol}://${proxyAuthUsername}:${proxyAuthPassword}@${proxyHostname}${uriPort}`;
+        } else {
+          proxyUri = `${proxyProtocol}://${proxyHostname}${uriPort}`;
+        }
+        if (socksEnabled) {
+          request.httpsAgent = new SocksProxyAgent(
+            proxyUri,
+            Object.keys(httpsAgentRequestFields).length > 0 ? { ...httpsAgentRequestFields } : undefined
+          );
+          request.httpAgent = new SocksProxyAgent(proxyUri);
+        } else {
+          request.httpsAgent = new PatchedHttpsProxyAgent(
+            proxyUri,
+            Object.keys(httpsAgentRequestFields).length > 0 ? { ...httpsAgentRequestFields } : undefined
+          );
+          request.httpAgent = new HttpProxyAgent(proxyUri);
+        }
       } else {
-        request.httpsAgent = new PatchedHttpsProxyAgent(
-          proxyUri,
-          Object.keys(httpsAgentRequestFields).length > 0 ? { ...httpsAgentRequestFields } : undefined
-        );
-        request.httpAgent = new HttpProxyAgent(proxyUri);
+        request.httpsAgent = new https.Agent({
+          ...httpsAgentRequestFields
+        });
+      }
+    } else if (proxyMode === 'system') {
+      const { http_proxy, https_proxy, no_proxy } = getSystemProxyEnvVariables();
+      const shouldUseSystemProxy = shouldUseProxy(request.url, no_proxy || '');
+      if (shouldUseSystemProxy) {
+        try {
+          if (http_proxy?.length) {
+            new URL(http_proxy);
+            request.httpAgent = new HttpProxyAgent(http_proxy);
+          }
+        } catch (error) {
+          throw new Error('Invalid system http_proxy');
+        }
+        try {
+          if (https_proxy?.length) {
+            new URL(https_proxy);
+            request.httpsAgent = new PatchedHttpsProxyAgent(
+              https_proxy,
+              Object.keys(httpsAgentRequestFields).length > 0 ? { ...httpsAgentRequestFields } : undefined
+            );
+          }
+        } catch (error) {
+          throw new Error('Invalid system https_proxy');
+        }
+      } else {
+        request.httpsAgent = new https.Agent({
+          ...httpsAgentRequestFields
+        });
       }
     } else if (Object.keys(httpsAgentRequestFields).length > 0) {
       request.httpsAgent = new https.Agent({
diff --git a/packages/bruno-cli/src/utils/axios-instance.js b/packages/bruno-cli/src/utils/axios-instance.js
index 8f61066c5..834cda2a8 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-cli/src/utils/axios-instance.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-cli/src/utils/axios-instance.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ const { CLI_VERSION } = require('../constants');
 function makeAxiosInstance() {
   /** @type {axios.AxiosInstance} */
   const instance = axios.create({
+    proxy: false,
     headers: {
       "User-Agent": `bruno-runtime/${CLI_VERSION}`
     }
diff --git a/packages/bruno-cli/src/utils/proxy-util.js b/packages/bruno-cli/src/utils/proxy-util.js
index 729e03356..2a93d517e 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-cli/src/utils/proxy-util.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-cli/src/utils/proxy-util.js
@@ -79,7 +79,18 @@ class PatchedHttpsProxyAgent extends HttpsProxyAgent {
   }
 }
 
+
+const getSystemProxyEnvVariables = () => {
+  const { http_proxy, HTTP_PROXY, https_proxy, HTTPS_PROXY, no_proxy, NO_PROXY } = process.env;
+  return {
+    http_proxy: http_proxy || HTTP_PROXY,
+    https_proxy: https_proxy || HTTPS_PROXY,
+    no_proxy: no_proxy || NO_PROXY
+  }; 
+}
+
 module.exports = {
   shouldUseProxy,
-  PatchedHttpsProxyAgent
+  PatchedHttpsProxyAgent,
+  getSystemProxyEnvVariables
 };