diff --git a/sqlx-macros/src/lib.rs b/sqlx-macros/src/lib.rs
index f6d225dc97..e9a3a6d72b 100644
--- a/sqlx-macros/src/lib.rs
+++ b/sqlx-macros/src/lib.rs
@@ -60,6 +60,16 @@ macro_rules! async_macro (
         let res: Result<proc_macro2::TokenStream> = block_on(async {
             use sqlx::connection::Connect;
 
+            // If a .env file exists at CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR, load environment variables from this,
+            // otherwise fallback to default dotenv behaviour.
+            if let Ok(dir) = std::env::var("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR") {
+                let env_path = Path::from(&dir).join(".env");
+                if env_path.exists() {
+                    dotenv::from_path(env_path.as_path())
+                        .map_err(|e| format!("failed to load environment from {:?}, {}", env_path, e))?
+                }
+            }
+
             let db_url = Url::parse(&dotenv::var("DATABASE_URL").map_err(|_| "DATABASE_URL not set")?)?;
 
             match db_url.scheme() {