diff --git a/api/client.go b/api/client.go
index 1735657936..0090321caa 100644
--- a/api/client.go
+++ b/api/client.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ const (
 	EnvVaultClientCert       = "VAULT_CLIENT_CERT"
 	EnvVaultClientKey        = "VAULT_CLIENT_KEY"
 	EnvVaultClientTimeout    = "VAULT_CLIENT_TIMEOUT"
+	EnvVaultHeaders          = "VAULT_HEADERS"
 	EnvVaultSRVLookup        = "VAULT_SRV_LOOKUP"
 	EnvVaultSkipVerify       = "VAULT_SKIP_VERIFY"
 	EnvVaultNamespace        = "VAULT_NAMESPACE"
@@ -665,6 +667,30 @@ func NewClient(c *Config) (*Client, error) {
 		client.setNamespace(namespace)
 	}
 
+	if envHeaders := os.Getenv(EnvVaultHeaders); envHeaders != "" {
+		var result map[string]any
+		err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(envHeaders), &result)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not unmarshal environment-supplied headers")
+		}
+		var forbiddenHeaders []string
+		for key, value := range result {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(key, "X-Vault-") {
+				forbiddenHeaders = append(forbiddenHeaders, key)
+				continue
+			}
+
+			value, ok := value.(string)
+			if !ok {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("environment-supplied headers include non-string values")
+			}
+			client.AddHeader(key, value)
+		}
+		if len(forbiddenHeaders) > 0 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to setup Headers[%s]: Header starting by 'X-Vault-' are for internal usage only", strings.Join(forbiddenHeaders, ", "))
+		}
+	}
+
 	return client, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/api/client_test.go b/api/client_test.go
index 3d75aabd6b..1ed4dfd3d3 100644
--- a/api/client_test.go
+++ b/api/client_test.go
@@ -374,6 +374,61 @@ func TestDefaulRetryPolicy(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestClientEnvHeaders(t *testing.T) {
+	oldHeaders := os.Getenv(EnvVaultHeaders)
+
+	defer func() {
+		os.Setenv(EnvVaultHeaders, oldHeaders)
+	}()
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		Input string
+		Valid bool
+	}{
+		{
+			"{}",
+			true,
+		},
+		{
+			"{\"foo\": \"bar\"}",
+			true,
+		},
+		{
+			"{\"foo\": 1}", // Values must be strings
+			false,
+		},
+		{
+			"{\"X-Vault-Foo\": \"bar\"}", // X-Vault-* not allowed
+			false,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		os.Setenv(EnvVaultHeaders, tc.Input)
+		config := DefaultConfig()
+		config.ReadEnvironment()
+		_, err := NewClient(config)
+		if err != nil {
+			if tc.Valid {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error reading headers from environment: %v", err)
+			}
+		} else {
+			if !tc.Valid {
+				t.Fatal("no error reading headers from environment when error was expected")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	os.Setenv(EnvVaultHeaders, "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}")
+	config := DefaultConfig()
+	config.ReadEnvironment()
+	cli, _ := NewClient(config)
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(cli.Headers().Values("foo"), []string{"bar"}) {
+		t.Error("Environment-supplied headers not set in CLI client")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestClientEnvSettings(t *testing.T) {
 	cwd, _ := os.Getwd()
 
diff --git a/changelog/21993.txt b/changelog/21993.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..856cfc9662
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/21993.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:improvement
+cli: Allow vault CLI HTTP headers to be specified using the JSON-encoded VAULT_HEADERS environment variable
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/website/content/docs/commands/index.mdx b/website/content/docs/commands/index.mdx
index 7632dd452c..15109f9c8f 100644
--- a/website/content/docs/commands/index.mdx
+++ b/website/content/docs/commands/index.mdx
@@ -439,6 +439,12 @@ Prevents the Vault client from following redirects. By default, the Vault client
 
 ~> **Note:** Disabling redirect following behavior could cause issues with commands such as 'vault operator raft snapshot' as this command redirects the request to the cluster's primary node.
 
+### `VAULT_HEADERS`
+
+JSON-encoded headers to include in Vault HTTP requests performed by the CLI. For example: `{"FOO": "BAR"}`.
+
+Like the `-header` CLI parameter, headers starting with `X-Vault-` are forbidden.
+
 ## Flags
 
 There are different CLI flags that are available depending on subcommands. Some