diff --git a/zsh/.local/share/.gitignore b/zsh/.local/share/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef6bfe2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zsh/.local/share/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# ignore all files in the stew directory
+stew/*
diff --git a/zsh/.zshrc b/zsh/.zshrc
index 3e237c0..a46705e 100644
--- a/zsh/.zshrc
+++ b/zsh/.zshrc
@@ -83,16 +83,12 @@ fi
 whence -p direnv &>/dev/null && eval "$(direnv hook zsh)"
 
 # secrets
-if [ -r $HOME/.env_secrets ]; then
-  export $(xargs < "$HOME/.env_secrets")
+if [ -r "$HOME/.env_secrets" ]; then
+  set -a
+  source "$HOME/.env_secrets"
+  set +a
 fi
 
-# for env in $HOME/.config/*/.env; do
-#    if [ -r "$env" ]; then
-#      export $(xargs < "$env")
-#    fi
-# done
-
 # command line completion
 autoload -U +X bashcompinit && bashcompinit
 autoload -Uz compinit && compinit