diff --git a/src/node_dotenv.cc b/src/node_dotenv.cc
index 0c6fa30a41d7..bde719d9008c 100644
--- a/src/node_dotenv.cc
+++ b/src/node_dotenv.cc
@@ -156,7 +156,9 @@ void Dotenv::ParseContent(const std::string_view input) {
   std::string_view key;
   std::string_view value;
 
-  while (!content.empty()) {
+  // The increment also runs after `continue`, so every line starts trimmed
+  // no matter which branch consumed the previous one.
+  for (; !content.empty(); content = trim_spaces(content)) {
     // Skip empty lines and comments
     if (content.front() == '\n' || content.front() == '#') {
       // Check if the first character of the content is a newline or a hash
@@ -183,7 +185,6 @@ void Dotenv::ParseContent(const std::string_view input) {
         content.at(equal_or_newline) == '\n') {
       if (equal_or_newline != std::string_view::npos) {
         content.remove_prefix(equal_or_newline + 1);
-        content = trim_spaces(content);
         continue;
       }
       break;
@@ -194,14 +195,6 @@ void Dotenv::ParseContent(const std::string_view input) {
     content.remove_prefix(equal_or_newline + 1);
     key = trim_spaces(key);
 
-    // If the value is not present (e.g. KEY=) set it to an empty string
-    if (content.empty() || content.front() == '\n') {
-      store_.insert_or_assign(std::string(key), "");
-      continue;
-    }
-
-    content = trim_spaces(content);
-
     // Skip lines with empty keys after trimming spaces.
     // Examples of invalid keys that would be skipped:
     //   =value
@@ -217,14 +210,19 @@ void Dotenv::ParseContent(const std::string_view input) {
       key = trim_spaces(key);
     }
 
-    // SAFETY: Content is guaranteed to have at least one character
-    if (content.empty()) {
-      // In case the last line is a single key without value
-      // Example: KEY= (without a newline at the EOF)
+    // Skip spaces and tabs before the value, but not a newline: in
+    // `KEY=   \nNEXT=value` the value of KEY is empty.
+    content.remove_prefix(
+        std::min(content.find_first_not_of(" \t"), content.size()));
+
+    // If the value is not present (e.g. KEY=) set it to an empty string
+    if (content.empty() || content.front() == '\n') {
       store_.insert_or_assign(std::string(key), "");
-      break;
+      continue;
     }
 
+    content = trim_spaces(content);
+
     // Expand new line if \n it's inside double quotes
     // Example: EXPAND_NEWLINES = 'expand\nnew\nlines'
     if (content.front() == '"') {
@@ -318,8 +316,6 @@ void Dotenv::ParseContent(const std::string_view input) {
         content = {};
       }
     }
-
-    content = trim_spaces(content);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-util-parse-env.js b/test/parallel/test-util-parse-env.js
index e932a31f683e..f68a17358f3a 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-util-parse-env.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-util-parse-env.js
@@ -66,6 +66,28 @@ assert.deepStrictEqual(util.parseEnv(''), { __proto__: null });
 assert.deepStrictEqual(util.parseEnv('FOO=bar\nFOO=baz\n'),
                        { __proto__: null, FOO: 'baz' });
 
+// An empty value must not consume the next line or skip key normalization.
+assert.deepStrictEqual(util.parseEnv('EMPTY=   \nNEXT=value\n'),
+                       { __proto__: null, EMPTY: '', NEXT: 'value' });
+assert.deepStrictEqual(util.parseEnv('EMPTY=\t\nNEXT=value'),
+                       { __proto__: null, EMPTY: '', NEXT: 'value' });
+assert.deepStrictEqual(util.parseEnv('export EMPTY=\nexport SPACED=   '),
+                       { __proto__: null, EMPTY: '', SPACED: '' });
+assert.deepStrictEqual(util.parseEnv('=\nNEXT=value'),
+                       { __proto__: null, NEXT: 'value' });
+
+// Comments indented with spaces are ignored after every kind of line.
+assert.deepStrictEqual(util.parseEnv([
+  'A="a"', '  # X=1',
+  "B='b'", '  # X=2',
+  'C=`c`', '  # X=3',
+  'D=', '  # X=4',
+  'E=   ', '  # X=5',
+  '= # X=6',
+  '# comment', '  # X=7',
+  'F=f',
+].join('\n')), { __proto__: null, A: 'a', B: 'b', C: 'c', D: '', E: '', F: 'f' });
+
 // Test for invalid input.
 assert.throws(() => {
   for (const value of [null, undefined, {}, []]) {