diff --git a/engine/pkg/config/envvar/envvar.go b/engine/pkg/config/envvar/envvar.go
index 4b574e5e..8962cb56 100644
--- a/engine/pkg/config/envvar/envvar.go
+++ b/engine/pkg/config/envvar/envvar.go
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
-// Package envvar expands "${VAR}" and "$VAR" placeholders in selected config
-// fields using the process environment.
+// Package envvar expands a config field whose value is solely a "${VAR}" or
+// "$VAR" placeholder using the process environment. A value that merely
+// contains a "$" (a password, a regex backreference, an unmatched brace) is a
+// literal and is left unchanged.
 package envvar
 
 import (
 	"os"
+	"regexp"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
@@ -14,35 +17,35 @@ type Field struct {
 	Ptr  *string
 }
 
-// ExpandStrict expands "${VAR}" and "$VAR" references in s. It returns an
-// error if any referenced variable is unset, so misconfigured tokens fail
-// loudly at startup instead of silently resolving to an empty string.
+// placeholderRE matches a value that consists solely of a single "${VAR}" or
+// "$VAR" reference, capturing the variable name. Anything else (including a
+// value that merely embeds a "$") is treated as a literal so secrets that
+// legitimately contain a "$" survive load without corruption.
+var placeholderRE = regexp.MustCompile(`^\$\{([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\}$|^\$([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)$`)
+
+// ExpandStrict resolves s when it is exactly a single "${VAR}" or "$VAR"
+// placeholder, returning the referenced environment variable's value. It
+// returns an error if the referenced variable is unset, so a misconfigured
+// placeholder fails loudly at startup instead of silently resolving to an
+// empty string. Any other value, including one that merely contains a "$", is
+// returned unchanged.
 func ExpandStrict(s string) (string, error) {
-	if s == "" {
-		return "", nil
+	m := placeholderRE.FindStringSubmatch(s)
+	if m == nil {
+		return s, nil
 	}
 
-	var missing string
-
-	resolved := os.Expand(s, func(name string) string {
-		if missing != "" {
-			return ""
-		}
-
-		v, ok := os.LookupEnv(name)
-		if !ok {
-			missing = name
-			return ""
-		}
-
-		return v
-	})
+	name := m[1]
+	if name == "" {
+		name = m[2]
+	}
 
-	if missing != "" {
-		return "", errors.Errorf("environment variable %q is not set", missing)
+	v, ok := os.LookupEnv(name)
+	if !ok {
+		return "", errors.Errorf("environment variable %q is not set", name)
 	}
 
-	return resolved, nil
+	return v, nil
 }
 
 // ExpandFields applies ExpandStrict to each field and writes the resolved
diff --git a/engine/pkg/config/envvar/envvar_test.go b/engine/pkg/config/envvar/envvar_test.go
index 0c6d234e..c9d631db 100644
--- a/engine/pkg/config/envvar/envvar_test.go
+++ b/engine/pkg/config/envvar/envvar_test.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 func TestExpandStrict(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Setenv("DBLAB_TOKEN", "secret-from-env")
 	t.Setenv("EMPTY_VAR", "")
+	t.Setenv("en", "injected-value")
 
 	tests := []struct {
 		name    string
@@ -23,7 +24,13 @@ func TestExpandStrict(t *testing.T) {
 		{name: "unbraced placeholder", input: "$DBLAB_TOKEN", want: "secret-from-env"},
 		{name: "explicitly empty env var", input: "${EMPTY_VAR}", want: ""},
 		{name: "unset variable", input: "${DBLAB_MISSING}", wantErr: `environment variable "DBLAB_MISSING" is not set`},
-		{name: "regex backreference looks like unset var", input: "***$1", wantErr: `environment variable "1" is not set`},
+		{name: "regex backreference preserved", input: "***$1", want: "***$1"},
+		{name: "password with dollar preserved", input: "pa$$w0rd", want: "pa$$w0rd"},
+		{name: "embedded reference not expanded", input: "tok$en", want: "tok$en"},
+		{name: "leading dollar embedded preserved", input: "$DBLAB_TOKEN-suffix", want: "$DBLAB_TOKEN-suffix"},
+		{name: "unclosed brace preserved", input: "${UNCLOSED", want: "${UNCLOSED"},
+		{name: "empty braces preserved", input: "${}", want: "${}"},
+		{name: "bare dollar preserved", input: "$", want: "$"},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range tests {