diff --git a/hermes_cli/doctor.py b/hermes_cli/doctor.py
index 21e6cd05cee..53fa31098f7 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/doctor.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/doctor.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from hermes_cli.config import get_project_root, get_hermes_home, get_env_path
+from hermes_cli.env_loader import load_hermes_dotenv
 from hermes_constants import display_hermes_home
 
 PROJECT_ROOT = get_project_root()
@@ -19,15 +20,8 @@
 _DHH = display_hermes_home()  # user-facing display path (e.g. ~/.hermes or ~/.hermes/profiles/coder)
 
 # Load environment variables from ~/.hermes/.env so API key checks work
-from dotenv import load_dotenv
 _env_path = get_env_path()
-if _env_path.exists():
-    try:
-        load_dotenv(_env_path, encoding="utf-8")
-    except UnicodeDecodeError:
-        load_dotenv(_env_path, encoding="latin-1")
-# Also try project .env as dev fallback
-load_dotenv(PROJECT_ROOT / ".env", override=False, encoding="utf-8")
+load_hermes_dotenv(hermes_home=_env_path.parent, project_env=PROJECT_ROOT / ".env")
 
 from hermes_cli.colors import Colors, color
 from hermes_cli.models import _HERMES_USER_AGENT
diff --git a/hermes_cli/dump.py b/hermes_cli/dump.py
index 7fa9a337f5c..859f8f62468 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/dump.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/dump.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from hermes_cli.config import get_hermes_home, get_env_path, get_project_root, load_config
+from hermes_cli.env_loader import load_hermes_dotenv
 from hermes_constants import display_hermes_home
 
 
@@ -195,15 +196,11 @@ def run_dump(args):
     show_keys = getattr(args, "show_keys", False)
 
     # Load env from .env file so key checks work
-    from dotenv import load_dotenv
     env_path = get_env_path()
-    if env_path.exists():
-        try:
-            load_dotenv(env_path, encoding="utf-8")
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            load_dotenv(env_path, encoding="latin-1")
-    # Also try project .env as dev fallback
-    load_dotenv(get_project_root() / ".env", override=False, encoding="utf-8")
+    load_hermes_dotenv(
+        hermes_home=env_path.parent,
+        project_env=get_project_root() / ".env",
+    )
 
     project_root = get_project_root()
     hermes_home = get_hermes_home()
diff --git a/scripts/discord-voice-doctor.py b/scripts/discord-voice-doctor.py
index 932ab519cac..8227c8d11c7 100755
--- a/scripts/discord-voice-doctor.py
+++ b/scripts/discord-voice-doctor.py
@@ -176,9 +176,12 @@ def check_env_vars():
 
     # Load .env
     try:
-        from dotenv import load_dotenv
-        if ENV_FILE.exists():
-            load_dotenv(ENV_FILE)
+        from hermes_cli.env_loader import load_hermes_dotenv
+
+        load_hermes_dotenv(
+            hermes_home=ENV_FILE.parent,
+            project_env=PROJECT_ROOT / ".env",
+        )
     except ImportError:
         pass
 
diff --git a/scripts/release.py b/scripts/release.py
index b1705cac6ad..eafa506fb25 100755
--- a/scripts/release.py
+++ b/scripts/release.py
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
     "dengtaoyuan@dengtaoyuandeMac-mini.local": "dengtaoyuan450-a11y",
     "ysfalweshcan@gmail.com": "Junass1",
     "bartokmagic@proton.me": "Bartok9",
+    "25840394+Bongulielmi@users.noreply.github.com": "Bongulielmi",
     "beardthelion@users.noreply.github.com": "beardthelion",
     "tangyuanjc@JCdeAIfenshendeMac-mini.local": "tangyuanjc",
     "leon@agentlinker.ai": "agentlinker",