diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d076d1c9..72b50927 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 
 ### Added
 
+- `CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_BACKEND` is now accepted as an alias for `PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND`. If both are set, `PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND` takes precedence.
+- `CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_KEY` is now accepted as an alias for `KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY`, letting the bundled `keyrings.cryptfile`/`keyrings.alt` encrypted backends be unlocked non-interactively (e.g. in headless containers) without an interactive `getpass()` prompt. If both are set, `KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY` takes precedence. Note: both bundled backends override `KeyringBackend.__init__` without calling `super().__init__()`, so `keyring`'s own automatic `KEYRING_PROPERTY_*` handling never runs for them — we apply it ourselves after resolving the backend.
 - `cloudsmith auth --no-browser` skips the automatic browser launch and prints the SAML IDP URL to open manually, for shells where launching a browser is unwanted or unreliable.
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/cloudsmith_cli/core/keyring.py b/cloudsmith_cli/core/keyring.py
index e39fd98a..5e721098 100644
--- a/cloudsmith_cli/core/keyring.py
+++ b/cloudsmith_cli/core/keyring.py
@@ -24,7 +24,36 @@ def _get_username():
     return getpass.getuser()
 
 
+def _sync_keyring_backend_env():
+    """Allow CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_BACKEND to alias PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND."""
+    alias_value = os.environ.get("CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_BACKEND")
+    if alias_value and "PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND" not in os.environ:
+        os.environ["PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND"] = alias_value
+
+
+def _sync_keyring_property_env():
+    """Allow CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_KEY to alias KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY."""
+    alias_value = os.environ.get("CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_KEY")
+    if alias_value and "KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY" not in os.environ:
+        os.environ["KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY"] = alias_value
+
+
+def _prepare_keyring_backend():
+    """Resolve env var aliases and apply them to the keyring backend.
+
+    keyrings.cryptfile and keyrings.alt override KeyringBackend.__init__
+    without calling super(), so KEYRING_PROPERTY_* env vars (e.g. the
+    keyring_key password for those encrypted file backends) never reach
+    them through the library's own documented mechanism. Apply them here
+    instead, once the backend has been resolved.
+    """
+    _sync_keyring_backend_env()
+    _sync_keyring_property_env()
+    keyring.get_keyring().set_properties_from_env()
+
+
 def _get_value(key):
+    _prepare_keyring_backend()
     username = _get_username()
     try:
         return keyring.get_password(key, username)
@@ -33,6 +62,7 @@ def _get_value(key):
 
 
 def _set_value(key, value):
+    _prepare_keyring_backend()
     username = _get_username()
     keyring.set_password(key, username, value)
 
@@ -112,6 +142,7 @@ def store_sso_tokens(api_host, access_token, refresh_token):
 
 
 def _delete_value(key):
+    _prepare_keyring_backend()
     username = _get_username()
     try:
         keyring.delete_password(key, username)
diff --git a/cloudsmith_cli/core/tests/test_keyring.py b/cloudsmith_cli/core/tests/test_keyring.py
index 863710b1..15bd7a4c 100644
--- a/cloudsmith_cli/core/tests/test_keyring.py
+++ b/cloudsmith_cli/core/tests/test_keyring.py
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ def mock_delete_password():
         yield delete_password_mock
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def mock_get_keyring():
+    with patch.object(keyring, "get_keyring") as get_keyring_mock:
+        yield get_keyring_mock
+
+
 class TestKeyring:
     api_host = "https://example.com"
 
@@ -254,6 +260,94 @@ def test_returns_true_when_env_var_is_falsy(self, env_value):
             assert should_use_keyring() is True
 
 
+class TestKeyringBackendAlias:
+    """Tests for CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_BACKEND aliasing PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND."""
+
+    api_host = "https://example.com"
+
+    def test_sets_python_keyring_backend_when_unset(
+        self, mock_get_user, mock_get_password
+    ):
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env.pop("PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND", None)
+        env["CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_BACKEND"] = "keyring.backends.null.Keyring"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, env, clear=True):
+            get_access_token(self.api_host)
+            assert (
+                os.environ["PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND"] == "keyring.backends.null.Keyring"
+            )
+
+    def test_does_not_override_existing_python_keyring_backend(
+        self, mock_get_user, mock_get_password
+    ):
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env["PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND"] = "keyring.backends.SecretService.Keyring"
+        env["CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_BACKEND"] = "keyring.backends.null.Keyring"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, env, clear=True):
+            get_access_token(self.api_host)
+            assert (
+                os.environ["PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND"]
+                == "keyring.backends.SecretService.Keyring"
+            )
+
+    def test_no_op_when_alias_not_set(self, mock_get_user, mock_get_password):
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env.pop("PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND", None)
+        env.pop("CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_BACKEND", None)
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, env, clear=True):
+            get_access_token(self.api_host)
+            assert "PYTHON_KEYRING_BACKEND" not in os.environ
+
+
+class TestKeyringPropertyAlias:
+    """Tests for CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_KEY aliasing KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY.
+
+    keyrings.cryptfile and keyrings.alt override KeyringBackend.__init__
+    without calling super(), so KEYRING_PROPERTY_* env vars never reach
+    those backends via the library's own documented mechanism; we apply
+    them ourselves by calling set_properties_from_env() on the resolved
+    backend.
+    """
+
+    api_host = "https://example.com"
+
+    def test_sets_keyring_property_when_unset(
+        self, mock_get_user, mock_get_password, mock_get_keyring
+    ):
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env.pop("KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY", None)
+        env["CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_KEY"] = "super-secret"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, env, clear=True):
+            get_access_token(self.api_host)
+            assert os.environ["KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY"] == "super-secret"
+
+    def test_does_not_override_existing_keyring_property(
+        self, mock_get_user, mock_get_password, mock_get_keyring
+    ):
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env["KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY"] = "native-secret"
+        env["CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_KEY"] = "alias-secret"
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, env, clear=True):
+            get_access_token(self.api_host)
+            assert os.environ["KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY"] == "native-secret"
+
+    def test_no_op_when_alias_not_set(
+        self, mock_get_user, mock_get_password, mock_get_keyring
+    ):
+        env = os.environ.copy()
+        env.pop("KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY", None)
+        env.pop("CLOUDSMITH_KEYRING_KEY", None)
+        with patch.dict(os.environ, env, clear=True):
+            get_access_token(self.api_host)
+            assert "KEYRING_PROPERTY_KEYRING_KEY" not in os.environ
+
+    def test_applies_properties_to_resolved_backend(
+        self, mock_get_user, mock_get_password, mock_get_keyring
+    ):
+        get_access_token(self.api_host)
+        mock_get_keyring.return_value.set_properties_from_env.assert_called_once()
+
+
 class TestDeleteSsoTokens:
     """Tests for the delete_sso_tokens and has_sso_tokens functions."""