diff --git a/kubernetes/chart/zulip/README.md b/kubernetes/chart/zulip/README.md
index 3364323ab8..ebe8a8d65f 100644
--- a/kubernetes/chart/zulip/README.md
+++ b/kubernetes/chart/zulip/README.md
@@ -143,6 +143,17 @@ are defined in the `values.yaml` under `zulip.environment`. These environment
 variables are forwarded to the Docker container, you can read more about
 configuring Zulip through environment variables
 [here](https://github.com/zulip/docker-zulip/#configuration).
+Variables can be either a plain scalar value ie. string/int or a projected value
+from a secret or configmap, eg:
+
+```yaml
+SETTING_EXTERNAL_HOST: zulip.example.com
+SECRETS_email_password:
+  valueFrom:
+    secretKeyRef:
+      name: email
+      key: password
+```
 
 ### Dependencies
 
diff --git a/kubernetes/chart/zulip/templates/_helpers.tpl b/kubernetes/chart/zulip/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 39cd659d0b..a6fbde30a8 100644
--- a/kubernetes/chart/zulip/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/kubernetes/chart/zulip/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -90,6 +90,10 @@ include all env variables for Zulip pods
   value: "{{ .Values.zulip.password }}"
 {{- range $key, $value := .Values.zulip.environment }}
 - name: {{ $key }}
+  {{- if kindIs "map" $value }}
+  {{- toYaml $value | nindent 2 }}
+  {{- else }}
   value: {{ $value | quote }}
+  {{- end }}
 {{- end }}
 {{- end }}