diff --git a/newsfragments/compose_profiles_env.feature b/newsfragments/compose_profiles_env.feature
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99e6e5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/compose_profiles_env.feature
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Support COMPOSE_PROFILES environment variable to enable profiles.
diff --git a/podman_compose.py b/podman_compose.py
index c3c44cc..e627923 100755
--- a/podman_compose.py
+++ b/podman_compose.py
@@ -2231,6 +2231,11 @@ class PodmanCompose:
             env_vars = norm_as_dict(args.env)
             self.environ.update(env_vars)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
 
+        profiles_from_env = {
+            p.strip() for p in self.environ.get("COMPOSE_PROFILES", "").split(",") if p.strip()
+        }
+        requested_profiles = set(args.profile).union(profiles_from_env)
+
         compose: dict[str, Any] = {}
         # Iterate over files primitively to allow appending to files in-loop
         files_iter = iter(files)
@@ -2296,7 +2301,7 @@ class PodmanCompose:
                 # Solution is to remove 'include' key from compose obj. This doesn't break
                 # having `include` present and correctly processed in included files
                 del compose["include"]
-        resolved_services = self._resolve_profiles(compose.get("services", {}), set(args.profile))
+        resolved_services = self._resolve_profiles(compose.get("services", {}), requested_profiles)
         compose["services"] = resolved_services
         if not getattr(args, "no_normalize", None):
             compose = normalize_final(compose, self.dirname)
@@ -2318,7 +2323,7 @@ class PodmanCompose:
             services = {}
             log.warning("WARNING: No services defined")
         # include services with no profile defined or the selected profiles
-        services = self._resolve_profiles(services, set(args.profile))
+        services = self._resolve_profiles(services, requested_profiles)
 
         # NOTE: maybe add "extends.service" to _deps at this stage
         flat_deps(services, with_extends=True)
diff --git a/tests/integration/profile/test_podman_compose_up_down.py b/tests/integration/profile/test_podman_compose_up_down.py
index 63e5050..b0afba2 100644
--- a/tests/integration/profile/test_podman_compose_up_down.py
+++ b/tests/integration/profile/test_podman_compose_up_down.py
@@ -90,3 +90,71 @@ class TestUpDown(unittest.TestCase, RunSubprocessMixin):
             actual_services[service] = service in actual_output
 
         self.assertEqual(expected_services, actual_services)
+
+    @parameterized.expand(
+        [
+            (
+                ["--profile", "profile-1"],
+                "profile-2",
+                {"default-service": True, "service-1": True, "service-2": True},
+            ),
+            (
+                [],
+                "profile-1,profile-2",
+                {"default-service": True, "service-1": True, "service-2": True},
+            ),
+            (
+                [],
+                "profile-1, profile-2",
+                {"default-service": True, "service-1": True, "service-2": True},
+            ),
+            (
+                [],
+                "",
+                {"default-service": True, "service-1": False, "service-2": False},
+            ),
+            (
+                [],
+                ",",
+                {"default-service": True, "service-1": False, "service-2": False},
+            ),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_up_with_compose_profiles_env(
+        self, profiles: List[str], compose_profiles: str, expected_services: dict
+    ) -> None:
+        """
+        Tests the `up` command when the `COMPOSE_PROFILES` environment variable is set.
+        """
+        up_cmd = [
+            "coverage",
+            "run",
+            podman_compose_path(),
+            "-f",
+            profile_compose_file(),
+        ]
+        up_cmd.extend(profiles)
+        up_cmd.extend(["up", "-d"])
+
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env["COMPOSE_PROFILES"] = compose_profiles
+
+        self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode(up_cmd, env=env)
+
+        check_cmd = [
+            "podman",
+            "container",
+            "ps",
+            "--format",
+            '"{{.Names}}"',
+        ]
+        out, _ = self.run_subprocess_assert_returncode(check_cmd)
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(expected_services), 3)
+        actual_output = out.decode("utf-8")
+
+        actual_services = {}
+        for service, _ in expected_services.items():
+            actual_services[service] = service in actual_output
+
+        self.assertEqual(expected_services, actual_services)