diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index d5c2e2d..34f3c2a 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 language: php
+dist: trusty
 php:
+  - "7.4"
+  - "7.3"
+  - "7.2"
   - "7.1"
-  - "7.0"
-  - "5.6"
-  - "5.5"
-  - "5.4"
-  - "hhvm"
 
 install:
   - sudo apt-get update
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6ef2b0b..6237a67 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # CHANGELOG
 
+## 0.9.1
+
+ * Fix Issue #1: `.env` file not always processed
+
+Initial release.
 ## 0.9.0
 
 Initial release.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 131a3fb..b396760 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ Yii2 Configloader
 [![Latest Stable Version](https://poser.pugx.org/codemix/yii2-configloader/v/stable.svg)](https://packagist.org/packages/codemix/yii2-configloader)
 [![Latest Unstable Version](https://poser.pugx.org/codemix/yii2-configloader/v/unstable.svg)](https://packagist.org/packages/codemix/yii2-configloader)
 [![Total Downloads](https://poser.pugx.org/codemix/yii2-configloader/downloads)](https://packagist.org/packages/codemix/yii2-configloader)
-[![HHVM Status](http://hhvm.h4cc.de/badge/yiisoft/yii2-dev.png)](http://hhvm.h4cc.de/package/codemix/yii2-configloader)
 [![License](https://poser.pugx.org/codemix/yii2-configloader/license.svg)](https://packagist.org/packages/codemix/yii2-configloader)
 
 Build configuration arrays from config files and environment variables.
@@ -99,9 +98,10 @@ variable (either in your server environment or in `.env`):
 ENABLE_LOCALCONF=1
 ```
 
-Now any call to `web()` or `console()` will return the merged result of `config/web.php` +
-`config/console.php` or `config/console.php` + `config/local-console.php` respectively.
+Now the methods will return the corresponding merged results:
 
+ * `web()`: `config/web.php` + `config/local.php`
+ * `console()`: `config/console.php` + `config/local-console.php`
 
 Alternatively you can explicitely ask for local configuration:
 
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 747377f..2dd69e9 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -1,21 +1,30 @@
 {
-    "name": "codemix/yii2-configloader",
-    "description": "Build configuration arrays from config files and env vars.",
-    "keywords": ["yii2", "config", "environment"],
-    "license": "MIT",
-    "authors": [
-        {
-            "name": "Michael Härtl",
-            "email": "haertl.mike@gmail.com"
-        }
-    ],
-    "require": {
-      "yiisoft/yii2": "*",
-      "vlucas/phpdotenv": "1.0.*"
-    },
-    "autoload": {
-        "psr-4": {
-            "codemix\\yii2confload\\": "src/"
-        }
+  "name": "codemix/yii2-configloader",
+  "description": "Build configuration arrays from config files and env vars.",
+  "keywords": ["yii2", "config", "environment"],
+  "license": "MIT",
+  "authors": [
+    {
+      "name": "Michael Härtl",
+      "email": "haertl.mike@gmail.com"
     }
+  ],
+  "require": {
+    "php": "^7.1.3 || ^8.0",
+    "yiisoft/yii2": "*",
+    "vlucas/phpdotenv": "^5.0"
+  },
+  "require-dev": {
+    "phpunit/phpunit": ">4.0 <8"
+  },
+  "autoload": {
+    "psr-4": {
+      "codemix\\yii2confload\\": "src/"
+    }
+  },
+  "autoload-dev": {
+      "psr-4": {
+          "tests\\": "tests"
+      }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/phpunit.xml.dist b/phpunit.xml.dist
index 5887fb6..a814c26 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml.dist
+++ b/phpunit.xml.dist
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@
          convertWarningsToExceptions="true"
          processIsolation="true"
          stopOnFailure="false"
-         syntaxCheck="false"
-         bootstrap="vendor/autoload.php"
+         bootstrap="tests/bootstrap.php"
 >
     <testsuites>
         <testsuite name="Yii2 Config Test Suite">
diff --git a/src/Config.php b/src/Config.php
index f8b32a4..99ea28b 100644
--- a/src/Config.php
+++ b/src/Config.php
@@ -231,18 +231,21 @@ public static function bootstrap($directory, $vendor = null, $initEnv = true)
     public static function initEnv($directory = null)
     {
         if ($directory !== null && file_exists($directory . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . '.env')) {
-            \Dotenv::load($directory);
+            $dotenv = \Dotenv\Dotenv::createImmutable($directory);
+            $dotenv->load();
         }
 
         // Define main Yii environment variables
-        if (isset($_ENV['YII_DEBUG'])) {
-            define('YII_DEBUG', (bool)$_ENV['YII_DEBUG']);
+        $debug = self::env('YII_DEBUG', false);
+        if ($debug !== false) {
+            define('YII_DEBUG', (bool)$debug);
             if (YII_DEBUG) {
                 error_reporting(E_ALL);
             }
         }
-        if (isset($_ENV['YII_ENV'])) {
-            define('YII_ENV', $_ENV['YII_ENV']);
+        $env = self::env('YII_ENV', false);
+        if ($env !== false) {
+            define('YII_ENV', $env);
         }
     }
 
@@ -258,10 +261,16 @@ public static function initEnv($directory = null)
      */
     public static function env($name, $default = null, $required = false)
     {
-        if ($required) {
-            \Dotenv::required($name);
+        if (array_key_exists($name, $_ENV)) {
+            return $_ENV[$name];
         }
-        return isset($_ENV[$name]) ? $_ENV[$name] : $default;
+        if (array_key_exists($name, $_SERVER)) {
+            return $_SERVER[$name];
+        }
+        $value = getenv($name);
+        if ($value === false && $required) {
+            throw new \Exception("Environment variable '$name' is not set");
+        }
+        return $value === false ? $default : $value;
     }
-
 }
diff --git a/tests/BootstrapTest.php b/tests/BootstrapTest.php
index 2e3179d..42c21e6 100644
--- a/tests/BootstrapTest.php
+++ b/tests/BootstrapTest.php
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 <?php
+namespace tests;
+
+use \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
 use codemix\yii2confload\Config;
 
-class BootstrapTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+class BootstrapTest extends TestCase
 {
     public function testCanBootstrapApplication()
     {
diff --git a/tests/ConsoleConfigTest.php b/tests/ConsoleConfigTest.php
index a037896..0ccc1c3 100644
--- a/tests/ConsoleConfigTest.php
+++ b/tests/ConsoleConfigTest.php
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 <?php
+namespace tests;
+
+use \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
 use codemix\yii2confload\Config;
 
-class ConsoleConfigTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+class ConsoleConfigTest extends TestCase
 {
     public function testCanGetConfig()
     {
@@ -47,7 +50,7 @@ public function testCanMergeCustomConfig()
     public function testCanMergeLocalConfigByEnvVar()
     {
         $config = new Config(__DIR__ . '/app');
-        $_ENV['ENABLE_LOCALCONF'] = 1;
+        putenv('ENABLE_LOCALCONF=1');
         $console = $config->console([
             'key5' => 'test',
         ]);
diff --git a/tests/EnvTest.php b/tests/EnvTest.php
index 77bb2f3..60d28d4 100644
--- a/tests/EnvTest.php
+++ b/tests/EnvTest.php
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 <?php
+namespace tests;
+
+use \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
 use codemix\yii2confload\Config;
 
-class EnvTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+class EnvTest extends TestCase
 {
     public function testCanInitYiiEnvFromEnvVars()
     {
-        $_ENV['YII_DEBUG'] = true;
-        $_ENV['YII_ENV'] = 'prod';
+        putenv('YII_DEBUG=1');
+        putenv('YII_ENV=prod');
         Config::initEnv();
 
         $this->assertTrue(defined('YII_DEBUG'));
@@ -27,19 +30,29 @@ public function testCanInitYiiEnvFromEnvFile()
 
     public function testCanGetEnvVars()
     {
-        $_ENV['TEST1'] = 987;
-        $_ENV['TEST2'] = 'demo';
+        putenv('TEST1=987');
+        putenv('TEST2=demo');
 
         $this->assertEquals(987, Config::env('TEST1'));
         $this->assertEquals('demo', Config::env('TEST2'));
         $this->assertEquals('default', Config::env('TEST3', 'default'));
     }
 
+    public function testCanRequireEnvVar()
+    {
+        try {
+            $x = Config::env('DOESNOTEXIST', null, true);
+            $this->fail('No exception thrown for missing env variable');
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            $this->assertEquals("Environment variable 'DOESNOTEXIST' is not set", $e->getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+
     public function testCanGetEnvVarsFromEnvFile()
     {
         Config::initEnv(__DIR__ . '/app');
 
-        $this->assertEquals('', Config::env('YII_DEBUG'));
+        $this->assertEquals(0, Config::env('YII_DEBUG'));
         $this->assertEquals('dev', Config::env('YII_ENV'));
         $this->assertEquals('dotenv1', Config::env('VAR1'));
         $this->assertEquals(2, Config::env('VAR2'));
@@ -48,11 +61,11 @@ public function testCanGetEnvVarsFromEnvFile()
 
     public function testEnvFileDoesNotClearEnvVars()
     {
-        $_ENV['TEST1'] = 654;
+        $_ENV['TEST1'] = '654';
         $_ENV['TEST2'] = 'xyz';
         Config::initEnv(__DIR__ . '/app');
 
-        $this->assertEquals(654, Config::env('TEST1'));
+        $this->assertEquals('654', Config::env('TEST1'));
         $this->assertEquals('xyz', Config::env('TEST2'));
         $this->assertEquals('dotenv1', Config::env('VAR1'));
         $this->assertEquals(2, Config::env('VAR2'));
@@ -61,13 +74,13 @@ public function testEnvFileDoesNotClearEnvVars()
 
     public function testEnvFileDoesNotOverrideEnvVars()
     {
-        $_ENV['VAR1'] = 654;
+        $_ENV['VAR1'] = '654';
         $_ENV['VAR2'] = 'xyz';
         Config::initEnv(__DIR__ . '/app');
 
-        $this->assertEquals('', Config::env('YII_DEBUG'));
+        $this->assertEquals(0, Config::env('YII_DEBUG'));
         $this->assertEquals('dev', Config::env('YII_ENV'));
-        $this->assertEquals(654, Config::env('VAR1'));
+        $this->assertEquals('654', Config::env('VAR1'));
         $this->assertEquals('xyz', Config::env('VAR2'));
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/WebConfigTest.php b/tests/WebConfigTest.php
index c8ebc30..67b9a49 100644
--- a/tests/WebConfigTest.php
+++ b/tests/WebConfigTest.php
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 <?php
+namespace tests;
+
+use \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
 use codemix\yii2confload\Config;
 
-class WebConfigTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+class WebConfigTest extends TestCase
 {
     public function testCanGetConfig()
     {
@@ -43,7 +46,7 @@ public function testCanMergeCustomConfig()
     public function testCanMergeLocalConfigByEnvVar()
     {
         $config = new Config(__DIR__ . '/app');
-        $_ENV['ENABLE_LOCALCONF'] = 1;
+        putenv('ENABLE_LOCALCONF=1');
         $web = $config->web([
             'key5' => 'test',
         ]);
diff --git a/tests/bootstrap.php b/tests/bootstrap.php
index b3d9bbc..8666e52 100644
--- a/tests/bootstrap.php
+++ b/tests/bootstrap.php
@@ -1 +1,10 @@
 <?php
+require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
+
+// Some travis environments use phpunit > 6
+$newClass = '\PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase';
+$oldClass = '\PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase';
+if (!class_exists($newClass) && class_exists($oldClass)) {
+    class_alias($oldClass, $newClass);
+}
+