diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/executor/BashWrapperBuilder.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/executor/BashWrapperBuilder.groovy
index 6f7e69d741..f29ee8d931 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/executor/BashWrapperBuilder.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/executor/BashWrapperBuilder.groovy
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ class BashWrapperBuilder {
 
     protected String getSecretsEnv() {
         return SecretsLoader.isEnabled()
-                ? SecretsLoader.instance.load() .getSecretsEnv()
+                ? SecretsLoader.instance.load() .getSecretsEnv(secretNames)
                 : null
     }
 
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/secret/LocalSecretsProvider.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/secret/LocalSecretsProvider.groovy
index 9125dd8b37..1e8802f650 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/secret/LocalSecretsProvider.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/secret/LocalSecretsProvider.groovy
@@ -159,9 +159,19 @@ class LocalSecretsProvider implements SecretsProvider, Closeable {
     }
 
     @Override
-    String getSecretsEnv() {
+    String getSecretsEnv(List<String> secretNames) {
+        if( !secretNames )
+            return null
+        final filter = secretNames.collect(it -> "-e '$it=.*'").join(' ')
         final tmp = makeTempSecretsFile()
-        return tmp ? "source $tmp" : null
+        // mac does not allow source an anonymous pipe
+        // https://stackoverflow.com/a/32596626/395921
+        return tmp ? "source /dev/stdin <<<\"\$(cat <(grep -w $filter $tmp))\"" : null
+    }
+
+    @Deprecated
+    String getSecretsEnv() {
+        return getSecretsEnv(null)
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/secret/SecretsProvider.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/secret/SecretsProvider.groovy
index 924ddbe66b..0acdb0fcdc 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/secret/SecretsProvider.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/secret/SecretsProvider.groovy
@@ -67,5 +67,9 @@ interface SecretsProvider extends ExtensionPoint, Closeable {
     /**
      * @return A shell snippet defining the secrets as environment variables
      */
+    String getSecretsEnv(List<String> secretNames)
+
+    @Deprecated
     String getSecretsEnv()
+
 }
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/secret/DummySecretsProvider.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/secret/DummySecretsProvider.groovy
index 9f9e07550a..0257b7f580 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/secret/DummySecretsProvider.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/secret/DummySecretsProvider.groovy
@@ -62,7 +62,12 @@ class DummySecretsProvider implements SecretsProvider {
     @Override
     void close() throws IOException { }
 
+    @Deprecated
     String getSecretsEnv() {
+        return null
+    }
+
+    String getSecretsEnv(List<String> names) {
         String result = ''
         target.each { k,v -> result += "export $k=$v\n" }
         return result
diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/secret/LocalSecretsProviderTest.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/secret/LocalSecretsProviderTest.groovy
index 5a840918d4..c7a91828ec 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/secret/LocalSecretsProviderTest.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/test/groovy/nextflow/secret/LocalSecretsProviderTest.groovy
@@ -196,12 +196,17 @@ class LocalSecretsProviderTest extends Specification {
         def folder = Files.createTempDirectory('test')
         def secretFile = folder.resolve('secrets.json');
         and:
-        def FOO = new SecretImpl('foo','x')
-        def BAR = new SecretImpl('bar', 'y')
+        def ALPHA = new SecretImpl('alpha','a')
+        def AALPHA = new SecretImpl('aalpha', 'b')
+        def DELTA = new SecretImpl('delta', 'd')
+        def OMEGA = new SecretImpl('omega', 'o')
+
         def provider = new LocalSecretsProvider(storeFile: secretFile)
         and:
-        provider.putSecret(FOO)
-        provider.putSecret(BAR)
+        provider.putSecret(ALPHA)
+        provider.putSecret(AALPHA)
+        provider.putSecret(DELTA)
+        provider.putSecret(OMEGA)
 
         when:
         def file = provider.makeTempSecretsFile()
@@ -209,14 +214,22 @@ class LocalSecretsProviderTest extends Specification {
         file.permissions == 'rw-------'
         and:
         file.text == '''\
-                     export bar="y"
-                     export foo="x"
+                     export aalpha="b"
+                     export alpha="a"
+                     export delta="d"
+                     export omega="o"
                      '''.stripIndent()
 
         when:
-        def env = provider.getSecretsEnv()
+        def env = provider.getSecretsEnv(['alpha','omega'])
+        then:
+        env == "source /dev/stdin <<<\"\$(cat <(grep -w -e 'alpha=.*' -e 'omega=.*' $file))\""
+
+        when:
+        def result = ['env', '-i', 'bash', '-c', "$env; env|sort"].execute().text
         then:
-        env == "source $file"
+        result.count('alpha=a')==1
+        result.count('omega=o')==1
 
         cleanup:
         folder?.deleteDir()