diff --git a/news/4851.bugfix.rst b/news/4851.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e578297
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/4851.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Return an empty dict when ``PIPENV_DONT_LOAD_ENV`` is set.
diff --git a/pipenv/core.py b/pipenv/core.py
index 68822d93..feb323c0 100644
--- a/pipenv/core.py
+++ b/pipenv/core.py
@@ -2459,7 +2459,7 @@ def do_run(project, command, args, three=None, python=False, pypi_mirror=None):
     )
 
     env = os.environ.copy()
-    env.update(load_dot_env(project, as_dict=True))
+    env.update(load_dot_env(project, as_dict=True) or {})
     env.pop("PIP_SHIMS_BASE_MODULE", None)
 
     path = env.get('PATH', '')