diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b8cfaebfa..b7f7b0d32 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -34,4 +34,6 @@ DXVK will create a file `dxgi.log` in the current working directory and may prin
 ### Environment variables
 The behaviour of DXVK can be modified with environment variables.
 
-- `DXVK_SHADER_DUMP_PATH=directory` Writes all DXBC and SPIR-V shaders to `directory`
\ No newline at end of file
+- `DXVK_SHADER_DUMP_PATH=directory` Writes all DXBC and SPIR-V shaders to the given directory
+- `DXVK_SHADER_READS_PATH=directory` Reads SPIR-V shaders from the given directory instead of compiling the DXBC shader.
+- `DXVK_DEBUG_LAYERS=1` Enables Vulkan debug layers. Highly recommended for troubleshooting and debugging purposes.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/d3d11/d3d11_shader.cpp b/src/d3d11/d3d11_shader.cpp
index 1c9dca614..f5aef5ed4 100644
--- a/src/d3d11/d3d11_shader.cpp
+++ b/src/d3d11/d3d11_shader.cpp
@@ -3,22 +3,6 @@
 
 namespace dxvk {
   
-  static std::string GetEnvVar(LPCWSTR name) {
-    DWORD len = ::GetEnvironmentVariableW(name, nullptr, 0);
-    
-    std::wstring result;
-    
-    while (len > result.size()) {
-      result.resize(len);
-      len = ::GetEnvironmentVariableW(
-        name, result.data(), result.size());
-    }
-    
-    result.resize(len);
-    return str::fromws(result);
-  }
-  
-  
   D3D11ShaderModule:: D3D11ShaderModule() { }
   D3D11ShaderModule::~D3D11ShaderModule() { }
   
@@ -41,8 +25,8 @@ namespace dxvk {
     
     // If requested by the user, dump both the raw DXBC
     // shader and the compiled SPIR-V module to a file.
-    const std::string dumpPath = GetEnvVar(L"DXVK_SHADER_DUMP_PATH");
-    const std::string readPath = GetEnvVar(L"DXVK_SHADER_READ_PATH");
+    const std::string dumpPath = env::getEnvVar(L"DXVK_SHADER_DUMP_PATH");
+    const std::string readPath = env::getEnvVar(L"DXVK_SHADER_READ_PATH");
     
     if (dumpPath.size() != 0) {
       const std::string baseName = str::format(dumpPath, "/",
diff --git a/src/d3d11/d3d11_shader.h b/src/d3d11/d3d11_shader.h
index 6a87ef13a..a9c39e134 100644
--- a/src/d3d11/d3d11_shader.h
+++ b/src/d3d11/d3d11_shader.h
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 #include "../util/sha1/sha1_util.h"
 
+#include "../util/util_env.h"
+
 #include "d3d11_device_child.h"
 #include "d3d11_interfaces.h"
 
diff --git a/src/dxvk/dxvk_include.h b/src/dxvk/dxvk_include.h
index 90ca4ee19..a5247c8af 100644
--- a/src/dxvk/dxvk_include.h
+++ b/src/dxvk/dxvk_include.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include "../util/log/log.h"
 #include "../util/log/log_debug.h"
 
+#include "../util/util_env.h"
 #include "../util/util_error.h"
 #include "../util/util_flags.h"
 #include "../util/util_string.h"
diff --git a/src/dxvk/dxvk_instance.cpp b/src/dxvk/dxvk_instance.cpp
index 66416999f..a87d5d166 100644
--- a/src/dxvk/dxvk_instance.cpp
+++ b/src/dxvk/dxvk_instance.cpp
@@ -67,9 +67,11 @@ namespace dxvk {
   
   
   vk::NameList DxvkInstance::getLayers() {
-    std::vector<const char*> layers = {
-      "VK_LAYER_LUNARG_standard_validation"
-    };
+    std::vector<const char*> layers = { };
+    
+    if (env::getEnvVar(L"DXVK_DEBUG_LAYERS") == "1")
+      layers.push_back("VK_LAYER_LUNARG_standard_validation");
+
     
     const vk::NameSet layersAvailable
       = vk::NameSet::enumerateInstanceLayers(*m_vkl);
diff --git a/src/util/meson.build b/src/util/meson.build
index d6286062d..ca64f8adb 100644
--- a/src/util/meson.build
+++ b/src/util/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 util_src = files([
+  'util_env.cpp',
+  
   'com/com_guid.cpp',
   'com/com_private_data.cpp',