diff --git a/doc.go b/doc.go
index 806600ec..43e7b990 100644
--- a/doc.go
+++ b/doc.go
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ The following environment variables are exported for shell commands:
     fx
     id
     PWD
+    OLDPWD
     LF_LEVEL
     OPENER
     EDITOR
@@ -716,6 +717,10 @@ Id of the running client.
 
 Present working directory.
 
+    OLDPWD
+
+Initial working directory.
+
     LF_LEVEL
 
 The value of this variable is set to the current nesting level when you run lf from a shell spawned inside lf.
diff --git a/docstring.go b/docstring.go
index 0983142e..f077fd21 100644
--- a/docstring.go
+++ b/docstring.go
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ The following environment variables are exported for shell commands:
     fx
     id
     PWD
+    OLDPWD
     LF_LEVEL
     OPENER
     EDITOR
@@ -768,6 +769,10 @@ Id of the running client.
 
 Present working directory.
 
+    OLDPWD
+
+Initial working directory.
+
     LF_LEVEL
 
 The value of this variable is set to the current nesting level when you run
diff --git a/lf.1 b/lf.1
index d2153632..74715ae1 100644
--- a/lf.1
+++ b/lf.1
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ The following environment variables are exported for shell commands:
     fx
     id
     PWD
+    OLDPWD
     LF_LEVEL
     OPENER
     EDITOR
@@ -868,6 +869,12 @@ Id of the running client.
 .PP
 Present working directory.
 .PP
+.EX
+    OLDPWD
+.EE
+.PP
+Initial working directory.
+.PP
 .EX
     LF_LEVEL
 .EE
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 48dcd2da..25aae79d 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@ func exportEnvVars() {
 	os.Setenv("PAGER", envPager)
 	os.Setenv("SHELL", envShell)
 
+	dir, err := os.Getwd()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s\n", err)
+	}
+	os.Setenv("OLDPWD", dir)
+
 	level, err := strconv.Atoi(envLevel)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("reading lf level: %s", err)