diff --git a/bin/doom b/bin/doom
index b2a28fffc..f9d1841e6 100755
--- a/bin/doom
+++ b/bin/doom
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 :; tmpdir=`$emacs --eval '(princ (temporary-file-directory))' 2>/dev/null`
 :; [ -z "$tmpdir" ] && { >&2 echo "Error: failed to run Emacs with command '$EMACS'"; >&2 echo; >&2 echo "Are you sure Emacs is installed and in your \$PATH?"; exit 1; }
 :; export __DOOMPID="${__DOOMPID:-$$}"
-:; export __DOOMSTEP="$((__DOOMSTEP+1))"
+:; export __DOOMSTEP="${__DOOMSTEP:-0}"
 :; export __DOOMGEOM="${__DOOMGEOM:-`tput cols 2>/dev/null`x`tput lines 2>/dev/null`}"
 :; export __DOOMGPIPE=${__DOOMGPIPE:-$__DOOMPIPE}
 :; export __DOOMPIPE=; [ -t 0 ] || __DOOMPIPE="${__DOOMPIPE}0"; [ -t 1 ] || __DOOMPIPE="${__DOOMPIPE}1"
diff --git a/bin/doomscript b/bin/doomscript
index 6c70a3c63..c5f487335 100755
--- a/bin/doomscript
+++ b/bin/doomscript
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ fi
 # Some state that Doom's CLI framework needs to know about the terminal. Read
 # the comments at the top of bin/doom for explanations.
 export __DOOMPID="${__DOOMPID:-$$}"
-export __DOOMSTEP="$((__DOOMSTEP+1))"
+export __DOOMSTEP="${__DOOMSTEP:-0}"
 export __DOOMGEOM="${__DOOMGEOM:-$(tput cols 2>/dev/null)x$(tput lines 2>/dev/null)}"
 export __DOOMGPIPE="${__DOOMGPIPE:-$__DOOMPIPE}"
 export __DOOMPIPE=
diff --git a/lisp/doom-cli.el b/lisp/doom-cli.el
index 925cc824d..1c3ae246b 100644
--- a/lisp/doom-cli.el
+++ b/lisp/doom-cli.el
@@ -1233,6 +1233,7 @@ Emacs' batch library lacks an implementation of the exec system call."
                                     ("EMACSDIR" . ,doom-emacs-dir)
                                     ("DOOMDIR" . ,doom-user-dir)
                                     ("DEBUG" . ,(if init-file-debug "1"))
+                                    ("__DOOMSTEP" . ,(doom-cli-context-step context))
                                     ("__DOOMCONTEXT" . ,context-file))
                                if val
                                concat (format "%s=%s \\\n" envvar (shell-quote-argument val)))