diff --git a/dotenv/mod.ts b/dotenv/mod.ts
index fd49e594c970..417e909d0a6c 100644
--- a/dotenv/mod.ts
+++ b/dotenv/mod.ts
@@ -76,9 +76,9 @@ export function loadSync(
 
   if (defaultsPath) {
     const confDefaults = parseFileSync(defaultsPath);
-    for (const key in confDefaults) {
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(confDefaults)) {
       if (!(key in conf)) {
-        conf[key] = confDefaults[key];
+        conf[key] = value;
       }
     }
   }
@@ -89,9 +89,9 @@ export function loadSync(
   }
 
   if (_export) {
-    for (const key in conf) {
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(conf)) {
       if (Deno.env.get(key) !== undefined) continue;
-      Deno.env.set(key, conf[key]);
+      Deno.env.set(key, value);
     }
   }
 
@@ -283,9 +283,9 @@ export async function load(
 
   if (defaultsPath) {
     const confDefaults = await parseFile(defaultsPath);
-    for (const key in confDefaults) {
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(confDefaults)) {
       if (!(key in conf)) {
-        conf[key] = confDefaults[key];
+        conf[key] = value;
       }
     }
   }
@@ -296,9 +296,9 @@ export async function load(
   }
 
   if (_export) {
-    for (const key in conf) {
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(conf)) {
       if (Deno.env.get(key) !== undefined) continue;
-      Deno.env.set(key, conf[key]);
+      Deno.env.set(key, value);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/dotenv/parse.ts b/dotenv/parse.ts
index 241abeea096d..03e226386bee 100644
--- a/dotenv/parse.ts
+++ b/dotenv/parse.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ function expandCharacters(str: string): string {
 
   return str.replace(
     /\\([nrt])/g,
-    ($1: keyof CharactersMap): string => charactersMap[$1],
+    ($1: keyof CharactersMap): string => charactersMap[$1] || "",
   );
 }
 
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ export function parse(rawDotenv: string): Record<string, string> {
   //https://github.com/motdotla/dotenv-expand/blob/ed5fea5bf517a09fd743ce2c63150e88c8a5f6d1/lib/main.js#L23
   const variablesMap = { ...env };
   keysForExpandCheck.forEach((key) => {
-    env[key] = expand(env[key], variablesMap);
+    env[key] = expand(env[key]!, variablesMap);
   });
 
   return env;
diff --git a/dotenv/parse_test.ts b/dotenv/parse_test.ts
index 342b8b9dee4e..a3a5536556df 100644
--- a/dotenv/parse_test.ts
+++ b/dotenv/parse_test.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Deno.test("parse()", () => {
   );
 
   assertEquals(
-    JSON.parse(load.JSON).foo,
+    JSON.parse(load.JSON || JSON.stringify({})).foo,
     "bar",
     "inner quotes are maintained",
   );