diff --git a/flink-kubernetes-operator/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/operator/config/FlinkConfigManager.java b/flink-kubernetes-operator/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/operator/config/FlinkConfigManager.java
index f31fc7ba4b..32b96d729a 100644
--- a/flink-kubernetes-operator/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/operator/config/FlinkConfigManager.java
+++ b/flink-kubernetes-operator/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/operator/config/FlinkConfigManager.java
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
+import java.util.function.Supplier;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
@@ -77,6 +78,8 @@
 /** Configuration manager for the Flink operator. */
 public class FlinkConfigManager {
 
+    public static final String ENV_VAR_PREFIX = "FLINK_CONF_";
+
     private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(FlinkConfigManager.class);
     private static final ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
 
@@ -448,15 +451,36 @@ private static Configuration loadGlobalConfiguration() {
 
     @VisibleForTesting
     protected static Configuration loadGlobalConfiguration(Optional<String> confOverrideDir) {
+        Configuration res;
         if (confOverrideDir.isPresent()) {
             Configuration configOverrides =
                     GlobalConfiguration.loadConfiguration(confOverrideDir.get());
             LOG.debug(
                     "Loading default configuration with overrides from {}", confOverrideDir.get());
-            return GlobalConfiguration.loadConfiguration(configOverrides);
+            res = GlobalConfiguration.loadConfiguration(configOverrides);
+        } else {
+            LOG.debug("Loading default configuration");
+            res = GlobalConfiguration.loadConfiguration();
         }
-        LOG.debug("Loading default configuration");
-        return GlobalConfiguration.loadConfiguration();
+        overriderConfigurationsFromEnvVariables(res, System::getenv);
+        return res;
+    }
+
+    @VisibleForTesting
+    static void overriderConfigurationsFromEnvVariables(
+            Configuration res, Supplier<Map<String, String>> envVariables) {
+        var envVars = envVariables.get();
+        envVars.forEach(
+                (k, v) -> {
+                    if (k.startsWith(ENV_VAR_PREFIX)) {
+                        res.setString(envVarToKey(k), v);
+                    }
+                });
+    }
+
+    @VisibleForTesting
+    static String envVarToKey(String key) {
+        return key.replace(ENV_VAR_PREFIX, "").replace("__", "-").replace("_", ".").toLowerCase();
     }
 
     private static void applyDefault(
diff --git a/flink-kubernetes-operator/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/operator/config/FlinkConfigManagerTest.java b/flink-kubernetes-operator/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/operator/config/FlinkConfigManagerTest.java
index 39414af44c..1f597cd700 100644
--- a/flink-kubernetes-operator/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/operator/config/FlinkConfigManagerTest.java
+++ b/flink-kubernetes-operator/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/kubernetes/operator/config/FlinkConfigManagerTest.java
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 
 import static org.apache.flink.kubernetes.operator.config.KubernetesOperatorConfigOptions.OPERATOR_WATCHED_NAMESPACES;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
@@ -428,4 +429,12 @@ public void testConcurrentDefaultConfig() throws InterruptedException {
         assertTrue(completed2.get());
         assertTrue(completed3.get());
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void envVarToFlinkConfig() {
+        assertThat(
+                        FlinkConfigManager.envVarToKey(
+                                "FLINK_CONF_RESTART__STRATEGY_FAILURE__RATE_DELAY"))
+                .isEqualTo("restart-strategy.failure-rate.delay");
+    }
 }