diff --git a/news/3182.bugfix.md b/news/3182.bugfix.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..284582bfd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/3182.bugfix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a bug that overrides provided by environment variables do not work.
diff --git a/src/pdm/cli/options.py b/src/pdm/cli/options.py
index 56a8bee74e..87c137d8d3 100644
--- a/src/pdm/cli/options.py
+++ b/src/pdm/cli/options.py
@@ -513,7 +513,7 @@ def non_interactive_option(
 
 override_option = Option(
     "--override",
-    default=os.getenv("PDM_OVERRIDE"),
+    default=[env] if (env := os.getenv("PDM_OVERRIDE")) else None,
     action="append",
     help="Use the constraint file in pip-requirements format for overriding. [env var: PDM_OVERRIDE] "
     "This option can be used multiple times. "