diff --git a/application/bootstrap.php b/application/bootstrap.php
index a76dfc0..abbf3ec 100644
--- a/application/bootstrap.php
+++ b/application/bootstrap.php
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ ini_set('unserialize_callback_func', 'spl_autoload_call');
 
 //-- Configuration and initialization -----------------------------------------
 
+/**
+ * Set Kohana::$environment if $_ENV['KOHANA_ENV'] has been supplied.
+ * 
+ */
+if (isset($_ENV['KOHANA_ENV']))
+{
+	Kohana::$environment = $_ENV['KOHANA_ENV'];
+}
+
 /**
  * Initialize Kohana, setting the default options.
  *