diff --git a/src/hackney.erl b/src/hackney.erl
index 5b9da6c6..7f5a5702 100644
--- a/src/hackney.erl
+++ b/src/hackney.erl
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@
          pause_stream/1,
          resume_stream/1]).
 
+-ifdef(TEST).
+-export([get_proxy_env/1, do_get_proxy_env/1]).
+-endif.
+
 -define(METHOD_TPL(Method),
   -export([Method/1, Method/2, Method/3, Method/4])).
 -include("hackney_methods.hrl").
@@ -830,7 +834,14 @@ get_proxy_env(S) when S =:= http; S =:= http_unix ->
 do_get_proxy_env([Var | Rest]) ->
   case os:getenv(Var) of
     false -> do_get_proxy_env(Rest);
-    Url -> {ok, Url}
+    "" -> do_get_proxy_env(Rest);
+    Url ->
+      %% Trim all whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines, etc.)
+      TrimmedUrl = re:replace(Url, "^\\s+|\\s+$", "", [global, {return, list}]),
+      case TrimmedUrl of
+        "" -> do_get_proxy_env(Rest);
+        _ -> {ok, TrimmedUrl}
+      end
   end;
 do_get_proxy_env([]) ->
   false.
diff --git a/test/hackney_proxy_tests.erl b/test/hackney_proxy_tests.erl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dacef31e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/hackney_proxy_tests.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+%%% -*- erlang -*-
+%%%
+%%% This file is part of hackney released under the Apache 2 license.
+%%% See the NOTICE for more information.
+%%%
+%%% Copyright (c) 2025 Benoît Chesneau <bchesneau@gmail.com>
+%%%
+
+-module(hackney_proxy_tests).
+-include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
+
+%% Test empty proxy environment variables handling
+empty_proxy_env_test_() ->
+    {setup,
+     fun setup/0,
+     fun teardown/1,
+     fun(State) ->
+         [
+          {"Empty http_proxy", fun() -> test_empty_proxy_env("http_proxy", State) end},
+          {"Empty HTTP_PROXY", fun() -> test_empty_proxy_env("HTTP_PROXY", State) end},
+          {"Empty https_proxy", fun() -> test_empty_proxy_env("https_proxy", State) end},
+          {"Empty HTTPS_PROXY", fun() -> test_empty_proxy_env("HTTPS_PROXY", State) end},
+          {"Whitespace http_proxy", fun() -> test_whitespace_proxy_env("http_proxy", State) end},
+          {"Whitespace HTTPS_PROXY", fun() -> test_whitespace_proxy_env("HTTPS_PROXY", State) end},
+          {"Multiple spaces proxy", fun() -> test_multiple_spaces_proxy_env("http_proxy", State) end},
+          {"Valid proxy URL", fun() -> test_valid_proxy_env("http_proxy", State) end},
+          {"Valid proxy with spaces", fun() -> test_valid_proxy_with_spaces("HTTP_PROXY", State) end}
+         ]
+     end}.
+
+setup() ->
+    %% Save current environment variables
+    SavedEnv = [{Var, os:getenv(Var)} || Var <- ["http_proxy", "HTTP_PROXY", 
+                                                  "https_proxy", "HTTPS_PROXY",
+                                                  "all_proxy", "ALL_PROXY"]],
+    %% Clear all proxy environment variables
+    [os:unsetenv(Var) || {Var, _} <- SavedEnv],
+    %% Clear hackney's cached proxy settings
+    application:unset_env(hackney, http_proxy),
+    application:unset_env(hackney, https_proxy),
+    SavedEnv.
+
+teardown(SavedEnv) ->
+    %% Restore original environment variables
+    lists:foreach(fun
+        ({Var, false}) -> os:unsetenv(Var);
+        ({Var, Value}) -> os:putenv(Var, Value)
+    end, SavedEnv),
+    %% Clear hackney's cached proxy settings
+    application:unset_env(hackney, http_proxy),
+    application:unset_env(hackney, https_proxy).
+
+test_empty_proxy_env(Var, _State) ->
+    os:putenv(Var, ""),
+    %% Clear cached values first
+    application:unset_env(hackney, http_proxy),
+    application:unset_env(hackney, https_proxy),
+    %% This should not crash and should return false (no proxy)
+    Result = hackney:get_proxy_env(http),
+    ?assertEqual(false, Result),
+    os:unsetenv(Var).
+
+test_whitespace_proxy_env(Var, _State) ->
+    os:putenv(Var, "   "),
+    %% Clear cached values first
+    application:unset_env(hackney, http_proxy),
+    application:unset_env(hackney, https_proxy),
+    %% This should not crash and should return false (no proxy)
+    Result = hackney:get_proxy_env(http),
+    ?assertEqual(false, Result),
+    os:unsetenv(Var).
+
+test_multiple_spaces_proxy_env(Var, _State) ->
+    os:putenv(Var, "     \t   \n   "),
+    %% Clear cached values first
+    application:unset_env(hackney, http_proxy),
+    application:unset_env(hackney, https_proxy),
+    %% This should not crash and should return false (no proxy)
+    Result = hackney:get_proxy_env(http),
+    ?assertEqual(false, Result),
+    os:unsetenv(Var).
+
+test_valid_proxy_env(Var, _State) ->
+    ProxyUrl = "http://proxy.example.com:8080",
+    os:putenv(Var, ProxyUrl),
+    %% Clear cached values first
+    application:unset_env(hackney, http_proxy),
+    application:unset_env(hackney, https_proxy),
+    %% This should return the proxy URL
+    Result = hackney:get_proxy_env(http),
+    ?assertEqual({ok, ProxyUrl}, Result),
+    os:unsetenv(Var).
+
+test_valid_proxy_with_spaces(Var, _State) ->
+    ProxyUrl = "  http://proxy.example.com:8080  ",
+    ExpectedUrl = "http://proxy.example.com:8080",
+    os:putenv(Var, ProxyUrl),
+    %% Clear cached values first
+    application:unset_env(hackney, http_proxy),
+    application:unset_env(hackney, https_proxy),
+    %% This should return the proxy URL with stripped spaces
+    Result = hackney:get_proxy_env(http),
+    ?assertEqual({ok, ExpectedUrl}, Result),
+    os:unsetenv(Var).
+
+%% Direct tests for do_get_proxy_env function
+do_get_proxy_env_test_() ->
+    [
+     {"Empty list returns false", 
+      fun() -> ?assertEqual(false, hackney:do_get_proxy_env([])) end},
+     {"All empty values returns false",
+      fun() ->
+          os:putenv("TEST_PROXY1", ""),
+          os:putenv("TEST_PROXY2", "   "),
+          os:putenv("TEST_PROXY3", "\t\n"),
+          Result = hackney:do_get_proxy_env(["TEST_PROXY1", "TEST_PROXY2", "TEST_PROXY3"]),
+          ?assertEqual(false, Result),
+          os:unsetenv("TEST_PROXY1"),
+          os:unsetenv("TEST_PROXY2"),
+          os:unsetenv("TEST_PROXY3")
+      end},
+     {"First valid proxy is returned",
+      fun() ->
+          os:putenv("TEST_PROXY1", ""),
+          os:putenv("TEST_PROXY2", "  http://proxy.example.com  "),
+          os:putenv("TEST_PROXY3", "http://proxy2.example.com"),
+          Result = hackney:do_get_proxy_env(["TEST_PROXY1", "TEST_PROXY2", "TEST_PROXY3"]),
+          ?assertEqual({ok, "http://proxy.example.com"}, Result),
+          os:unsetenv("TEST_PROXY1"),
+          os:unsetenv("TEST_PROXY2"),
+          os:unsetenv("TEST_PROXY3")
+      end}
+    ].
+