diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 874853f7..360bc210 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ Check [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/) for recommendations on how
 ## [Unreleased]
 ### Changed
 - Require VSCode 1.66
+- "Unset" variables by setting them to the empty string
+### Fixed
+- Avoid continuously asking to restart
+	If this keeps happening to you, please let us know!
 
 ## [0.6.1] - 2022-03-25
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/src/extension.ts b/src/extension.ts
index efb058cb..1f1f99e9 100644
--- a/src/extension.ts
+++ b/src/extension.ts
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class Direnv implements vscode.Disposable {
 		await this.cache.update(
 			Cached.environment,
 			Object.fromEntries(
-				[...this.backup.entries()].map(([key]) => [key, process.env[key]]),
+				[...this.backup.entries()].map(([key]) => [key, process.env[key] ?? '']),
 			),
 		)
 	}
@@ -124,13 +124,9 @@ class Direnv implements vscode.Disposable {
 				this.backup.set(key, process.env[key])
 			}
 
-			if (value !== null) {
-				process.env[key] = value
-				this.environment.replace(key, value)
-			} else {
-				delete process.env[key]
-				this.environment.delete(key) // can't unset the variable
-			}
+			value ??= '' // can't unset, set to empty instead
+			process.env[key] = value
+			this.environment.replace(key, value)
 		})
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/test/runTest.ts b/src/test/runTest.ts
index 7c16ccbc..f2964e32 100644
--- a/src/test/runTest.ts
+++ b/src/test/runTest.ts
@@ -6,10 +6,11 @@ async function main() {
 	try {
 		const extensionDevelopmentPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../../')
 		const extensionTestsPath = path.resolve(__dirname, './suite/index')
+		const extensionTestsEnv = { ['PREDEFINED']: 'value' }
 		const workspacePath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../../test/workspace')
 		const disableExtensions = '--disable-extensions'
 		const launchArgs = [workspacePath, disableExtensions]
-		await runTests({ extensionDevelopmentPath, extensionTestsPath, launchArgs })
+		await runTests({ extensionDevelopmentPath, extensionTestsPath, extensionTestsEnv, launchArgs })
 	} catch (err) {
 		console.error('Failed to run tests')
 		process.exit(1)
diff --git a/test/workspace/.envrc b/test/workspace/.envrc
index bc3c74d5..d81472e2 100644
--- a/test/workspace/.envrc
+++ b/test/workspace/.envrc
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 # shellcheck shell=bash
 export VARIABLE=value
+unset PREDEFINED
diff --git a/test/workspace/.vscode/tasks.json b/test/workspace/.vscode/tasks.json
index 4194c5d6..9863ebde 100644
--- a/test/workspace/.vscode/tasks.json
+++ b/test/workspace/.vscode/tasks.json
@@ -7,14 +7,14 @@
 			"label": "test-task",
 			"detail": "test that the .envrc environment is available in the task shell",
 			"type": "shell",
-			"command": "test -n \"$VARIABLE\"",
+			"command": "test -n \"$VARIABLE\" && test -z \"$PREDEFINED\"",
 			"problemMatcher": []
 		},
 		{
 			"label": "test-process",
 			"detail": "test that the .envrc environment is available in process.env",
 			"type": "shell",
-			"command": "test -n \"${env:VARIABLE}\"",
+			"command": "test -n \"${env:VARIABLE}\" && test -z \"${env:PREDEFINED}\"",
 			"problemMatcher": []
 		},
 	]