diff --git a/config/initializers/0001_dotenv.rb b/config/initializers/0001_dotenv.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e422c379
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/0001_dotenv.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Please ensure this file is loaded first (alphabetical seems to work)
+
+require 'dotenv'
+Dotenv.load
diff --git a/lib/tasks/heroku.rake b/lib/tasks/heroku.rake
index af2dddf9..3e35fcbf 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/heroku.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/heroku.rake
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+require 'dotenv/tasks'
+
 namespace :heroku do
   desc "Generate the Heroku gems manifest from gem dependencies"
-  task :gems do
+  task :gems => :dotenv do
     RAILS_ENV='production'
     Rake::Task[:environment].invoke
     list = Rails.configuration.gems.collect do |g| 
@@ -12,4 +14,4 @@ namespace :heroku do
       f.write(list)
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end