diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c96afc1a..71a3b1f6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -169,8 +169,7 @@ enumerated explicitly.
 - `clojure.set` aliased as `set`
 - `clojure.edn` aliased as `edn`:
   - `read-string`
-- `clojure.java.shell` aliases as `shell`:
-  - `sh`
+- `clojure.java.shell` aliases as `shell`
 - `clojure.java.io` aliased as `io`:
   - `as-relative-path`, `as-url`, `copy`, `delete-file`, `file`, `input-stream`,
     `make-parents`, `output-stream`, `reader`, `resource`, `writer`
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/java/io.clj b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/java/io.clj
index 88e7ec0c..5c26164b 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/java/io.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/java/io.clj
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 (ns babashka.impl.clojure.java.io
+  {:no-doc true}
   (:require [clojure.java.io :as io]))
 
 (def io-namespace
diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/java/shell.clj b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/java/shell.clj
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1d3aa429
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/java/shell.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+(ns babashka.impl.clojure.java.shell
+  {:no-doc true}
+  (:require [clojure.java.shell :as shell]
+            [sci.core :as sci]))
+
+(def sh-dir (sci/new-dynamic-var '*sh-dir* nil))
+(def sh-env (sci/new-dynamic-var '*sh-env* nil))
+
+(defn with-sh-dir*
+  [_ _ dir & forms]
+  `(binding [clojure.java.shell/*sh-dir* ~dir]
+     ~@forms))
+
+(defn with-sh-env*
+  [_ _ env & forms]
+  `(binding [clojure.java.shell/*sh-env* ~env]
+     ~@forms))
+
+(defn parse-args
+  [args]
+  (let [default-encoding "UTF-8" ;; see sh doc string
+        default-opts {:out-enc default-encoding
+                      :in-enc default-encoding
+                      :dir @sh-dir
+                      :env @sh-env}
+        [cmd opts] (split-with string? args)
+        opts (merge default-opts (apply hash-map opts))
+        opts-seq (apply concat opts)]
+    (concat cmd opts-seq)))
+
+(defn sh [& args]
+  (let [args (parse-args args)]
+    (apply shell/sh args)))
+
+(def shell-namespace
+  {'*sh-dir* sh-dir
+   '*sh-env* sh-env
+   'with-sh-dir (with-meta with-sh-dir*
+                  {:sci/macro true})
+   'with-sh-env (with-meta with-sh-env*
+                  {:sci/macro true})
+   'sh sh})
diff --git a/src/babashka/main.clj b/src/babashka/main.clj
index 8bdf6cc4..e6230073 100644
--- a/src/babashka/main.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/main.clj
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
    [babashka.impl.classpath :as cp]
    [babashka.impl.clojure.core :refer [core-extras]]
    [babashka.impl.clojure.java.io :refer [io-namespace]]
+   [babashka.impl.clojure.java.shell :refer [shell-namespace]]
    [babashka.impl.clojure.stacktrace :refer [print-stack-trace]]
    [babashka.impl.csv :as csv]
    [babashka.impl.pipe-signal-handler :refer [handle-pipe! pipe-signal-received?]]
@@ -16,7 +17,6 @@
    [babashka.wait :as wait]
    [clojure.edn :as edn]
    [clojure.java.io :as io]
-   [clojure.java.shell :as shell]
    [clojure.string :as str]
    [sci.addons :as addons]
    [sci.core :as sci]
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ Everything after that is bound to *command-line-args*."))
   {'clojure.tools.cli tools-cli-namespace
    'clojure.edn {'read edn/read
                  'read-string edn/read-string}
-   'clojure.java.shell {'sh shell/sh}
+   'clojure.java.shell shell-namespace
    'babashka.wait {'wait-for-port wait/wait-for-port
                    'wait-for-path wait/wait-for-path}
    'babashka.signal {'pipe-signal-received? pipe-signal-received?}
diff --git a/test/babashka/impl/clojure/java/shell_test.clj b/test/babashka/impl/clojure/java/shell_test.clj
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0f1cd8db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/babashka/impl/clojure/java/shell_test.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+(ns babashka.impl.clojure.java.shell-test
+  (:require [clojure.test :as t :refer [deftest is testing]]
+            [babashka.test-utils :as test-utils]
+            [clojure.string :as str]))
+
+(deftest with-sh-env-test
+  (is (= "\"BAR\""
+         (str/trim (test-utils/bb nil "
+(-> (shell/with-sh-env {:FOO \"BAR\"}
+      (shell/sh \"bash\" \"-c\" \"echo $FOO\"))
+    :out
+    str/trim)"))))
+  (is (str/includes? (str/trim (test-utils/bb nil "
+(-> (shell/with-sh-dir \"logo\"
+      (shell/sh \"ls\"))
+    :out)"))
+                     "icon.svg")))