diff --git a/direnv-cache b/direnv-cache
index 4dc30fd..f0a4972 100755
--- a/direnv-cache
+++ b/direnv-cache
@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@ diffEnvs() {
     local old="$1"
     local new="$2"
 
-    while read -r -d '' line; do
+    while IFS= read -r -d '' line; do
         name=$(tr -d '\0' <<<"$line" | head -n1 | cut -f1 -d'=')
         if ! getByName "$name" "$new" >/dev/null; then
             echo "export -n '${name}'"
         fi
     done <"$old"
 
-    while read -rd $'\0' line; do
+    while IFS= read -rd $'\0' line; do
         name=$(tr -d '\0' <<<"$line" | head -n1 | cut -f1 -d'=')
         if getByName "$name" "$old" >/dev/null; then
             # found in old env, check if values match
@@ -77,6 +77,11 @@ cacheFile=$(getCacheFilePath)
 
 case $cmd in
     reload|r)
+        if [[ -n $DIRENV_DIR ]]; then
+            # run self in clean environment (i.e. outside of the current direnv
+            # environment)
+            exec direnv exec /proc "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" "$@"
+        fi
         echo "Re-creating cache"
         mkdir -p "$(dirname ${cacheFile})"
         dumpEnv > "${cacheFile}.pre"