diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 56389b9f..829bb949 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -41,7 +41,10 @@
             "Shlinkio\\Shlink\\Rest\\": "module/Rest/src",
             "Shlinkio\\Shlink\\Core\\": "module/Core/src",
             "Shlinkio\\Shlink\\Common\\": "module/Common/src"
-        }
+        },
+        "files": [
+            "module/Common/functions/functions.php"
+        ]
     },
     "autoload-dev": {
         "psr-4": {
diff --git a/config/autoload/database.global.php b/config/autoload/database.global.php
index 62733f22..4d05ea36 100644
--- a/config/autoload/database.global.php
+++ b/config/autoload/database.global.php
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@ return [
 
     'database' => [
         'driver' => 'pdo_mysql',
-        'user' => getenv('DB_USER'),
-        'password' => getenv('DB_PASSWORD'),
-        'dbname' => getenv('DB_NAME') ?: 'shlink',
+        'user' => env('DB_USER'),
+        'password' => env('DB_PASSWORD'),
+        'dbname' => env('DB_NAME', 'shlink'),
         'charset' => 'utf8',
         'driverOptions' => [
             PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND => 'SET NAMES utf8'
diff --git a/config/autoload/translator.global.php b/config/autoload/translator.global.php
index e3730927..d0561cbe 100644
--- a/config/autoload/translator.global.php
+++ b/config/autoload/translator.global.php
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 return [
 
     'translator' => [
-        'locale' => getenv('DEFAULT_LOCALE') ?: 'en',
+        'locale' => env('DEFAULT_LOCALE', 'en'),
     ],
 
 ];
diff --git a/config/autoload/url-shortener.global.php b/config/autoload/url-shortener.global.php
index 718ed3f0..5b0d95c9 100644
--- a/config/autoload/url-shortener.global.php
+++ b/config/autoload/url-shortener.global.php
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 <?php
+use Shlinkio\Shlink\Core\Service\UrlShortener;
+
 return [
 
     'url_shortener' => [
         'domain' => [
-            'schema' => getenv('SHORTENED_URL_SCHEMA') ?: 'http',
-            'hostname' => getenv('SHORTENED_URL_HOSTNAME'),
+            'schema' => env('SHORTENED_URL_SCHEMA', 'http'),
+            'hostname' => env('SHORTENED_URL_HOSTNAME'),
         ],
-        'shortcode_chars' => getenv('SHORTCODE_CHARS'),
+        'shortcode_chars' => env('SHORTCODE_CHARS', UrlShortener::DEFAULT_CHARS),
     ],
 
 ];
diff --git a/module/Common/functions/functions.php b/module/Common/functions/functions.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f0f86f77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/module/Common/functions/functions.php
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<?php
+if (! function_exists('env')) {
+    /**
+     * Gets the value of an environment variable. Supports boolean, empty and null.
+     * This is basically Laravel's env helper
+     *
+     * @param string $key
+     * @param mixed $default
+     * @return mixed
+     * @link https://github.com/laravel/framework/blob/5.2/src/Illuminate/Foundation/helpers.php#L369
+     */
+    function env($key, $default = null)
+    {
+        $value = getenv($key);
+        if ($value === false) {
+            return $default;
+        }
+
+        switch (strtolower($value)) {
+            case 'true':
+            case '(true)':
+                return true;
+            case 'false':
+            case '(false)':
+                return false;
+            case 'empty':
+            case '(empty)':
+                return '';
+            case 'null':
+            case '(null)':
+                return null;
+        }
+
+        return trim($value);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/module/Common/src/Factory/CacheFactory.php b/module/Common/src/Factory/CacheFactory.php
index 33949dc3..6e17a82c 100644
--- a/module/Common/src/Factory/CacheFactory.php
+++ b/module/Common/src/Factory/CacheFactory.php
@@ -25,6 +25,6 @@ class CacheFactory implements FactoryInterface
      */
     public function __invoke(ContainerInterface $container, $requestedName, array $options = null)
     {
-        return getenv('APP_ENV') === 'pro' ? new ApcuCache() : new ArrayCache();
+        return env('APP_ENV', 'dev') === 'pro' ? new ApcuCache() : new ArrayCache();
     }
 }
diff --git a/module/Rest/config/rest.config.php b/module/Rest/config/rest.config.php
index 6e3fc216..223c864f 100644
--- a/module/Rest/config/rest.config.php
+++ b/module/Rest/config/rest.config.php
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 return [
 
     'rest' => [
-        'username' => getenv('REST_USER'),
-        'password' => getenv('REST_PASSWORD'),
+        'username' => env('REST_USER'),
+        'password' => env('REST_PASSWORD'),
     ],
 
 ];