diff --git a/ci/release/changelogs/next.md b/ci/release/changelogs/next.md
index 9e7cabe91..7f7f63458 100644
--- a/ci/release/changelogs/next.md
+++ b/ci/release/changelogs/next.md
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
     - Support for `--omit-version` flag. [#2377](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/issues/2377)
 - Compiler:
     - `link`s can be set to root path, e.g. `/xyz`. [#2357](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/issues/2357)
+    - When importing a file, attempt resolving substitutions at the imported file scope first [#2482](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/pull/2482)
 - Parser:
     - impose max key length. It's almost certainly a mistake if an ID gets too long, e.g. missing quotes [#2465](https://github.com/terrastruct/d2/pull/2465)
 - Render:
diff --git a/d2compiler/compile_test.go b/d2compiler/compile_test.go
index da5e686ba..44c4d1bb2 100644
--- a/d2compiler/compile_test.go
+++ b/d2compiler/compile_test.go
@@ -1714,6 +1714,29 @@ steps: {
 				assert.Equal(t, 1, len(g.Layers[0].Steps))
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "import-nested-var",
+
+			text: `...@models.environment
+`,
+			files: map[string]string{
+				"models.d2": `
+vars: {
+  c: {
+    k
+  }
+}
+
+environment: {
+  ...${c}
+}
+`,
+			},
+			assertions: func(t *testing.T, g *d2graph.Graph) {
+				assert.Equal(t, 1, len(g.Objects))
+				assert.Equal(t, "k", g.Objects[0].AbsID())
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name: "import-connections",
 
diff --git a/d2ir/import.go b/d2ir/import.go
index 6f593c5c7..2d6630203 100644
--- a/d2ir/import.go
+++ b/d2ir/import.go
@@ -111,6 +111,14 @@ func (c *compiler) __import(imp *d2ast.Import) (*Map, bool) {
 
 	c.compileMap(ir, ast, ast)
 
+	// We attempt to resolve variables in the imported file scope first
+	// But ignore errors, in case the variable is meant to be resolved at the
+	// importer
+	savedErrors := make([]d2ast.Error, len(c.err.Errors))
+	copy(savedErrors, c.err.Errors)
+	c.compileSubstitutions(ir, nil)
+	c.err.Errors = savedErrors
+
 	c.seenImports[impPath] = struct{}{}
 
 	return ir, true
diff --git a/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/import-nested-var.exp.json b/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/import-nested-var.exp.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a2ec401d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/import-nested-var.exp.json
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+{
+  "graph": {
+    "name": "",
+    "isFolderOnly": false,
+    "ast": {
+      "range": "d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/import-nested-var.d2,0:0:0-1:0:23",
+      "nodes": [
+        {
+          "import": {
+            "range": "d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/import-nested-var.d2,0:0:0-0:22:22",
+            "spread": true,
+            "pre": "",
+            "path": [
+              {
+                "unquoted_string": {
+                  "range": "d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/import-nested-var.d2,0:4:4-0:10:10",
+                  "value": [
+                    {
+                      "string": "models",
+                      "raw_string": "models"
+                    }
+                  ]
+                }
+              },
+              {
+                "unquoted_string": {
+                  "range": "d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/import-nested-var.d2,0:11:11-0:22:22",
+                  "value": [
+                    {
+                      "string": "environment",
+                      "raw_string": "environment"
+                    }
+                  ]
+                }
+              }
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      ]
+    },
+    "root": {
+      "id": "",
+      "id_val": "",
+      "attributes": {
+        "label": {
+          "value": ""
+        },
+        "labelDimensions": {
+          "width": 0,
+          "height": 0
+        },
+        "style": {},
+        "iconStyle": {},
+        "near_key": null,
+        "shape": {
+          "value": ""
+        },
+        "direction": {
+          "value": ""
+        },
+        "constraint": null
+      },
+      "zIndex": 0
+    },
+    "edges": null,
+    "objects": [
+      {
+        "id": "k",
+        "id_val": "k",
+        "references": [
+          {
+            "key": {
+              "range": "d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/models.d2,3:4:20-3:5:21",
+              "path": [
+                {
+                  "unquoted_string": {
+                    "range": "d2/testdata/d2compiler/TestCompile/models.d2,3:4:20-3:5:21",
+                    "value": [
+                      {
+                        "string": "k",
+                        "raw_string": "k"
+                      }
+                    ]
+                  }
+                }
+              ]
+            },
+            "key_path_index": 0,
+            "map_key_edge_index": -1
+          }
+        ],
+        "attributes": {
+          "label": {
+            "value": "k"
+          },
+          "labelDimensions": {
+            "width": 0,
+            "height": 0
+          },
+          "style": {},
+          "iconStyle": {},
+          "near_key": null,
+          "shape": {
+            "value": "rectangle"
+          },
+          "direction": {
+            "value": ""
+          },
+          "constraint": null
+        },
+        "zIndex": 0
+      }
+    ]
+  },
+  "err": null
+}