diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 71c9740d..ef2c1836 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 ### Added
 
 - Add support for Python 3.15.
+- `find_dotenv` accepts a `start_dir` argument to choose the directory (or file) the upward search starts from, instead of inferring it from the caller (#494).
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/src/dotenv/main.py b/src/dotenv/main.py
index 5faa7f0e..e0a5e08a 100644
--- a/src/dotenv/main.py
+++ b/src/dotenv/main.py
@@ -377,12 +377,20 @@ def find_dotenv(
     filename: str = ".env",
     raise_error_if_not_found: bool = False,
     usecwd: bool = False,
+    start_dir: Optional[StrPath] = None,
 ) -> str:
     """
     Search in increasingly higher folders for the given file
 
-    A leading `~` in `filename` is expanded to the user's home directory, and
-    an absolute `filename` is returned as is if it exists.
+    The search starts from `start_dir` when it is given. Otherwise it starts
+    from the current working directory if `usecwd` is true or Python is
+    running interactively, and from the directory of the calling file in all
+    other cases. `start_dir` may also be a file, in which case its directory
+    is used, so `find_dotenv(start_dir=__file__)` searches upwards from the
+    calling module regardless of how it was invoked.
+
+    A leading `~` in `filename` or `start_dir` is expanded to the user's home
+    directory, and an absolute `filename` is returned as is if it exists.
 
     Returns path to the file if found, or an empty string otherwise
     """
@@ -401,7 +409,9 @@ def _is_interactive():
     def _is_debugger():
         return sys.gettrace() is not None
 
-    if usecwd or _is_interactive() or _is_debugger() or getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
+    if start_dir is not None:
+        path = os.path.abspath(os.path.expanduser(os.fspath(start_dir)))
+    elif usecwd or _is_interactive() or _is_debugger() or getattr(sys, "frozen", False):
         # Should work without __file__, e.g. in REPL or IPython notebook.
         path = os.getcwd()
     else:
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 930ab171..d8bf1c33 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -604,6 +604,77 @@ def test_find_dotenv_expands_user(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     assert result == f"{home}/.env"
 
 
+def test_find_dotenv_start_dir_searches_upwards(tmp_path):
+    leaf = prepare_file_hierarchy(tmp_path)
+    dotenv_path = tmp_path / "child1" / ".env"
+    dotenv_path.write_text("a=b\n")
+
+    result = dotenv.find_dotenv(start_dir=leaf)
+
+    assert result == str(dotenv_path)
+
+
+def test_find_dotenv_start_dir_accepts_str_and_file(tmp_path):
+    leaf = prepare_file_hierarchy(tmp_path)
+    dotenv_path = tmp_path / ".env"
+    dotenv_path.write_text("a=b\n")
+    module = leaf / "app.py"
+    module.write_text("")
+
+    assert dotenv.find_dotenv(start_dir=str(leaf)) == str(dotenv_path)
+    assert dotenv.find_dotenv(start_dir=module) == str(dotenv_path)
+
+
+def test_find_dotenv_start_dir_skips_caller_detection(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    (tmp_path / ".env").write_text("a=b\n")
+
+    def fail(*args, **kwargs):
+        raise AssertionError("caller frame inspected")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, "_getframe", fail)
+
+    assert dotenv.find_dotenv(start_dir=tmp_path) == str(tmp_path / ".env")
+
+
+def test_find_dotenv_start_dir_takes_precedence_over_usecwd(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    cwd = tmp_path / "cwd"
+    cwd.mkdir()
+    (cwd / ".env").write_text("a=cwd\n")
+    start = tmp_path / "start"
+    start.mkdir()
+    (start / ".env").write_text("a=start\n")
+    monkeypatch.chdir(cwd)
+
+    result = dotenv.find_dotenv(usecwd=True, start_dir=start)
+
+    assert result == str(start / ".env")
+
+
+def test_find_dotenv_start_dir_expands_user(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    home = tmp_path / "home"
+    (home / "project").mkdir(parents=True)
+    (home / ".env").write_text("a=b\n")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("HOME", str(home))
+    monkeypatch.setenv("USERPROFILE", str(home))
+
+    result = dotenv.find_dotenv(start_dir="~/project")
+
+    assert result == str(home / ".env")
+
+
+def test_find_dotenv_start_dir_not_found(tmp_path):
+    leaf = prepare_file_hierarchy(tmp_path)
+
+    assert dotenv.find_dotenv(start_dir=leaf) == ""
+    with pytest.raises(IOError):
+        dotenv.find_dotenv(start_dir=leaf, raise_error_if_not_found=True)
+
+
+def test_find_dotenv_start_dir_missing(tmp_path):
+    with pytest.raises(IOError, match="Starting path not found"):
+        dotenv.find_dotenv(start_dir=tmp_path / "does-not-exist")
+
+
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
     sys.platform == "win32", reason="This test assumes case-sensitive variable names"
 )