diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
index 610648d892..5b1bef694c 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
@@ -166,8 +166,10 @@ func (ic *ContainerEngine) PlayKube(ctx context.Context, body io.Reader, options
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	expandedContent := os.ExpandEnv(string(content))
+
 	// split yaml document
-	documentList, err := splitMultiDocYAML(content)
+	documentList, err := splitMultiDocYAML([]byte(expandedContent))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/test/e2e/play_kube_test.go b/test/e2e/play_kube_test.go
index 8581af4384..af6ae67c1a 100644
--- a/test/e2e/play_kube_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/play_kube_test.go
@@ -1236,6 +1236,17 @@ items:
     restartPolicy: Never
 `
 
+var podWithEnvVariablesInterpolation = `
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Pod
+metadata:
+  name: foo
+spec:
+  containers:
+  - name: bar
+    image: ${IMAGE}
+`
+
 var (
 	defaultCtrName        = "testCtr"
 	defaultCtrCmd         = []string{"top"}
@@ -6337,4 +6348,20 @@ spec:
 		Expect(execArr[len(execArr)-1]).To(Not(ContainSubstring(arr[len(arr)-1])))
 	})
 
+	It("support environment variables interpolation", func() {
+		os.Setenv("IMAGE", CITEST_IMAGE)
+
+		err := writeYaml(podWithEnvVariablesInterpolation, kubeYaml)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+		kube := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"kube", "play", kubeYaml})
+		kube.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
+		Expect(kube).Should(ExitCleanly())
+
+		inspect := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"inspect", "foo-bar", "--format", "'{{ .ImageName }}'"})
+		inspect.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
+
+		imageName := inspect.OutputToString()
+		Expect(imageName).To(ContainSubstring(CITEST_IMAGE))
+	})
 })