diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 891cefc..ea41788 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ The following environment variables can be used to customize the Certbot contain
 | `CERTBOT_DOMAINS`      | Comma-separated list of domains for which to obtain the certificate (example: `example.com,www.example.com`) | - |
 | `CERTBOT_CERT_NAME`    | Explicit certificate name to update/modify ([See official docs →](https://eff-certbot.readthedocs.io/en/stable/using.html#changing-a-certificate-s-domains)) | - |
 | `CERTBOT_EXPAND`       | **DEPRECATED**: Expand existing certificate to add domains (use CERTBOT_CERT_NAME instead, [see official docs →](https://eff-certbot.readthedocs.io/en/stable/using.html#re-creating-and-updating-existing-certificates)) | `false` |
-| `CERTBOT_EMAIL`        | Email address for Let's Encrypt notifications                       | - |
+| `CERTBOT_EMAIL`        | **Optional.** Email address for your Let's Encrypt account. If omitted, the container registers with `--register-unsafely-without-email`. This is safe for most setups since [Let's Encrypt no longer sends expiration notification emails](https://letsencrypt.org/2025/06/26/expiration-notification-service-has-ended/). | - |
 | `CERTBOT_KEY_TYPE`     | Type of private key to generate                                     | `ecdsa` |
 | `CERTBOT_SERVER`       | The ACME server URL                                                 | `https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory` |
 | `CERTBOT_DEPLOY_HOOK`  | A command to run after obtaining the certificate          | - |
@@ -72,6 +72,26 @@ The following environment variables can be used to customize the Certbot contain
 | `RENEWAL_INTERVAL`     | Interval between certificate renewal checks. Set to `0` to disable renewals and only run once.                         | 43200 seconds (12 hours) |
 | `REPLACE_SYMLINKS`     | Replaces symlinks with direct copies of the files they reference (required for Windows) | `false`                    |
 
+### Using a proxy
+
+Certbot is built on Python's [`requests` library, which natively supports the standard proxy environment variables](https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user/advanced/#proxies) (`HTTP_PROXY`, `HTTPS_PROXY`, and `NO_PROXY`). Both the ACME (Let's Encrypt) traffic and the Cloudflare API calls will respect these variables — no extra configuration required:
+
+```yaml
+environment:
+  # HTTP proxy
+  HTTPS_PROXY: "http://proxy.example.com:3128"
+```
+
+SOCKS proxies are also supported (the image ships with [PySocks](https://pypi.org/project/PySocks/)), including authentication:
+
+```yaml
+environment:
+  # SOCKS5 proxy with authentication.
+  # Use the "socks5h" scheme to have the proxy resolve DNS (prevents DNS leaks);
+  # use "socks5" if you want DNS resolved locally instead.
+  HTTPS_PROXY: "socks5h://username:password@proxy.example.com:1080"
+```
+
 ### Creating a Cloudflare API Token
 
 > [!WARNING]  
diff --git a/src/Dockerfile b/src/Dockerfile
index 2a2479e..45b1798 100644
--- a/src/Dockerfile
+++ b/src/Dockerfile
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ COPY --chmod=700 entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
 
 RUN apk update && \
     apk add --no-cache shadow su-exec && \
+    # Enable SOCKS proxy support via the standard HTTP_PROXY/HTTPS_PROXY environment
+    # variables (see "Using a proxy" in the README): pysocks for certbot/ACME (requests),
+    # socksio for the Cloudflare API client (httpx)
+    pip install --no-cache-dir pysocks socksio && \
     addgroup -g "${CERTBOT_GID}" "${CERTBOT_GROUP}" && \
     adduser -u "${CERTBOT_UID}" -G "${CERTBOT_GROUP}" -D -H "${CERTBOT_USER}" && \
     mkdir -p /var/log/letsencrypt && \
diff --git a/src/entrypoint.sh b/src/entrypoint.sh
index 744e80f..b6e1108 100644
--- a/src/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/src/entrypoint.sh
@@ -114,6 +114,15 @@ run_certbot() {
         set -- "$@" --expand
     fi
 
+    # Register with an email if provided, otherwise register without one
+    # (Let's Encrypt no longer sends expiration emails as of June 2025)
+    if [ -n "$CERTBOT_EMAIL" ]; then
+        set -- "$@" --email "$CERTBOT_EMAIL"
+    else
+        set -- "$@" --register-unsafely-without-email
+    fi
+    
+    # Set deploy hook script if set
     if [ -n "$CERTBOT_DEPLOY_HOOK" ]; then
         set -- "$@" --deploy-hook "$CERTBOT_DEPLOY_HOOK"
     fi
@@ -125,7 +134,6 @@ run_certbot() {
         --dns-cloudflare-propagation-seconds "$CLOUDFLARE_PROPAGATION_SECONDS" \
         -d "$CERTBOT_DOMAINS" \
         --key-type "$CERTBOT_KEY_TYPE" \
-        --email "$CERTBOT_EMAIL" \
         --server "$CERTBOT_SERVER" \
         --agree-tos \
         --non-interactive \
@@ -144,7 +152,7 @@ run_certbot() {
 
 validate_environment_variables() {
     # Validate required environment variables
-    for var in CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN CERTBOT_DOMAINS CERTBOT_EMAIL CERTBOT_KEY_TYPE CERTBOT_SERVER CLOUDFLARE_CREDENTIALS_FILE CLOUDFLARE_PROPAGATION_SECONDS; do
+    for var in CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN CERTBOT_DOMAINS CERTBOT_KEY_TYPE CERTBOT_SERVER CLOUDFLARE_CREDENTIALS_FILE CLOUDFLARE_PROPAGATION_SECONDS; do
         if [ -z "$(eval echo \$$var)" ]; then
             echo "Error: $var environment variable is not set"
             exit 1
@@ -186,7 +194,7 @@ EOF
 
 echo "🚀 Let's Get Encrypted! 🚀"
 echo "🌐 Domain(s): $CERTBOT_DOMAINS"
-echo "📧 Email: $CERTBOT_EMAIL"
+echo "📧 Email: ${CERTBOT_EMAIL:-(none — registering without an email address)}"
 echo "🌐 Certbot Server: $CERTBOT_SERVER"
 echo "🔑 Key Type: $CERTBOT_KEY_TYPE"
 echo "⏰ Renewal Interval: $RENEWAL_INTERVAL seconds"