diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ff35f13c..7697ac33 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -75,7 +75,10 @@ The `storage_options` can be instantiated with a variety of keyword arguments de
 - `account_key`
 - `sas_token`
 - `tenant_id`, `client_id`, and `client_secret` are combined for an Azure ServicePrincipal e.g. `storage_options={'account_name': ACCOUNT_NAME, 'tenant_id': TENANT_ID, 'client_id': CLIENT_ID, 'client_secret': CLIENT_SECRET}`
-- `anon`: `True` or `False`. The default value for anon (i.e. anonymous) is True
+- `anon`: boo, optional.
+   The value to use for whether to attempt anonymous access if no other credential is passed. By default (`None`), the
+   `AZURE_STORAGE_ANON` environment variable is checked. False values (`false`, `0`, `f`) will resolve to `False` and
+   anonymous access will not be attempted. Otherwise the value for `anon` resolves to True.
 - `location_mode`: valid values are "primary" or "secondary" and apply to RA-GRS accounts
 
 For more argument details see all arguments for [`AzureBlobFileSystem` here](https://github.com/fsspec/adlfs/blob/f15c37a43afd87a04f01b61cd90294dd57181e1d/adlfs/spec.py#L328) and [`AzureDatalakeFileSystem` here](https://github.com/fsspec/adlfs/blob/f15c37a43afd87a04f01b61cd90294dd57181e1d/adlfs/spec.py#L69).
@@ -92,7 +95,8 @@ The following environmental variables can also be set and picked up for authenti
 The filesystem can be instantiated for different use cases based on a variety of `storage_options` combinations. The following list describes some common use cases utilizing `AzureBlobFileSystem`, i.e. protocols `abfs`or `az`. Note that all cases require the `account_name` argument to be provided:
 1. Anonymous connection to public container: `storage_options={'account_name': ACCOUNT_NAME, 'anon': True}` will assume the `ACCOUNT_NAME` points to a public container, and attempt to use an anonymous login. Note, the default value for `anon` is True.
 2. Auto credential solving using Azure's DefaultAzureCredential() library: `storage_options={'account_name': ACCOUNT_NAME, 'anon': False}` will use [`DefaultAzureCredential`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/python/api/azure-identity/azure.identity.defaultazurecredential?view=azure-python) to get valid credentials to the container `ACCOUNT_NAME`. `DefaultAzureCredential` attempts to authenticate via the [mechanisms and order visualized here](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/python/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-python#defaultazurecredential).
-3. Azure ServicePrincipal: `tenant_id`, `client_id`, and `client_secret` are all used as credentials for an Azure ServicePrincipal: e.g. `storage_options={'account_name': ACCOUNT_NAME, 'tenant_id': TENANT_ID, 'client_id': CLIENT_ID, 'client_secret': CLIENT_SECRET}`.
+3. Auto credential solving without requiring `storage_options`: Set `AZURE_STORAGE_ANON` to `false`, resulting in automatic credential resolution. Useful for compatibility with fsspec.
+4. Azure ServicePrincipal: `tenant_id`, `client_id`, and `client_secret` are all used as credentials for an Azure ServicePrincipal: e.g. `storage_options={'account_name': ACCOUNT_NAME, 'tenant_id': TENANT_ID, 'client_id': CLIENT_ID, 'client_secret': CLIENT_SECRET}`.
 
 ### Append Blob
 The `AzureBlobFileSystem` accepts [all of the Async BlobServiceClient arguments](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/blobs/storage-quickstart-blobs-python).
diff --git a/adlfs/spec.py b/adlfs/spec.py
index b437092f..0fb643ec 100644
--- a/adlfs/spec.py
+++ b/adlfs/spec.py
@@ -159,8 +159,14 @@ class AzureBlobFileSystem(AsyncFileSystem):
         Client secret to use when authenticating using an AD Service Principal client/secret.
     tenant_id: str
         Tenant ID to use when authenticating using an AD Service Principal client/secret.
+    anon: boolean, optional
+        The value to use for whether to attempt anonymous access if no other credential is
+        passed. By default (``None``), the ``AZURE_STORAGE_ANON`` environment variable is
+        checked. False values (``false``, ``0``, ``f``) will resolve to `False` and
+        anonymous access will not be attempted. Otherwise the value for ``anon`` resolves
+        to ``True``.
     default_fill_cache: bool = True
-        Whether to use cache filling with opoen by default
+        Whether to use cache filling with open by default
     default_cache_type: string ('bytes')
         If given, the default cache_type value used for "open()".  Set to none if no caching
         is desired.  Docs in fsspec
@@ -168,8 +174,8 @@ class AzureBlobFileSystem(AsyncFileSystem):
         Whether to support blob versioning.  If enable this will require the
         user to have the necessary permissions for dealing with versioned blobs.
     assume_container_exists: Optional[bool] (None)
-        Set this to true to not check for existance of containers at all, assuming they exist.
-        None (default) means to warn in case of a failure when checking for existance of a container
+        Set this to true to not check for existence of containers at all, assuming they exist.
+        None (default) means to warn in case of a failure when checking for existence of a container
         False throws if retrieving container properties fails, which might happen if your
         authentication is only valid at the storage container level, and not the
         storage account level.
@@ -239,7 +245,7 @@ def __init__(
         client_id: str = None,
         client_secret: str = None,
         tenant_id: str = None,
-        anon: bool = True,
+        anon: bool = None,
         location_mode: str = "primary",
         loop=None,
         asynchronous: bool = False,
@@ -271,7 +277,11 @@ def __init__(
         self.client_id = client_id or os.getenv("AZURE_STORAGE_CLIENT_ID")
         self.client_secret = client_secret or os.getenv("AZURE_STORAGE_CLIENT_SECRET")
         self.tenant_id = tenant_id or os.getenv("AZURE_STORAGE_TENANT_ID")
-        self.anon = anon
+        self.anon = anon or os.getenv("AZURE_STORAGE_ANON", "true").lower() not in [
+            "false",
+            "0",
+            "f",
+        ]
         self.location_mode = location_mode
         self.credential = credential
         self.request_session = request_session
diff --git a/adlfs/tests/test_spec.py b/adlfs/tests/test_spec.py
index 95d2ddd8..a40df93f 100644
--- a/adlfs/tests/test_spec.py
+++ b/adlfs/tests/test_spec.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import datetime
+import os
 import tempfile
 from unittest import mock
 
@@ -29,6 +30,17 @@ def test_connect(storage):
     AzureBlobFileSystem(account_name=storage.account_name, connection_string=CONN_STR)
 
 
+def test_anon_env(storage):
+    with mock.patch.dict(os.environ, {"AZURE_STORAGE_ANON": "false"}):
+        # Setting cachable to false to avoid re-testing the instance from the previous test
+        AzureBlobFileSystem.cachable = False
+        x = AzureBlobFileSystem(
+            account_name=storage.account_name, connection_string=CONN_STR
+        )
+        assert not x.anon
+        AzureBlobFileSystem.cachable = True  # Restoring cachable value
+
+
 def assert_blob_equals(blob, expected_blob):
     irregular_props = [
         "etag",