diff --git a/.env.dist b/.env
similarity index 98%
rename from .env.dist
rename to .env
index 8d20bf8..e45b094 100644
--- a/.env.dist
+++ b/.env
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # https://symfony.com/doc/current/best_practices/configuration.html#infrastructure-related-configuration
 
 ###> symfony/framework-bundle ###
-APP_ENV=dev
+APP_ENV=prod
 APP_SECRET=xxx
 #TRUSTED_PROXIES=127.0.0.1,127.0.0.2
 #TRUSTED_HOSTS=localhost,example.com
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index bfea97f..118a8d3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 /.idea/
 
 ###> symfony/framework-bundle ###
-/.env
+/.env.local
+/.env.local.php
+/.env.*.local
 /public/bundles/
 /var/
 /vendor/
diff --git a/bin/console b/bin/console
index 5187d02..19c2f6c 100755
--- a/bin/console
+++ b/bin/console
@@ -5,28 +5,31 @@ use App\Kernel;
 use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Console\Application;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\ArgvInput;
 use Symfony\Component\Debug\Debug;
-use Symfony\Component\Dotenv\Dotenv;
+
+if (false === in_array(\PHP_SAPI, ['cli', 'phpdbg', 'embed'], true)) {
+    echo 'Warning: The console should be invoked via the CLI version of PHP, not the '.\PHP_SAPI.' SAPI'.\PHP_EOL;
+}
 
 set_time_limit(0);
 
-require __DIR__.'/../vendor/autoload.php';
+require dirname(__DIR__).'/vendor/autoload.php';
 
 if (!class_exists(Application::class)) {
-    throw new \RuntimeException('You need to add "symfony/framework-bundle" as a Composer dependency.');
-}
-
-if (!isset($_SERVER['APP_ENV'])) {
-    if (!class_exists(Dotenv::class)) {
-        throw new \RuntimeException('APP_ENV environment variable is not defined. You need to define environment variables for configuration or add "symfony/dotenv" as a Composer dependency to load variables from a .env file.');
-    }
-    (new Dotenv())->load(__DIR__.'/../.env');
+    throw new RuntimeException('You need to add "symfony/framework-bundle" as a Composer dependency.');
 }
 
 $input = new ArgvInput();
-$env = $input->getParameterOption(['--env', '-e'], $_SERVER['APP_ENV'] ?? 'dev', true);
-$debug = (bool) ($_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'] ?? ('prod' !== $env)) && !$input->hasParameterOption('--no-debug', true);
+if (null !== $env = $input->getParameterOption(['--env', '-e'], null, true)) {
+    putenv('APP_ENV='.$_SERVER['APP_ENV'] = $_ENV['APP_ENV'] = $env);
+}
 
-if ($debug) {
+if ($input->hasParameterOption('--no-debug', true)) {
+    putenv('APP_DEBUG='.$_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'] = $_ENV['APP_DEBUG'] = '0');
+}
+
+require dirname(__DIR__).'/config/bootstrap.php';
+
+if ($_SERVER['APP_DEBUG']) {
     umask(0000);
 
     if (class_exists(Debug::class)) {
@@ -34,6 +37,6 @@ if ($debug) {
     }
 }
 
-$kernel = new Kernel($env, $debug);
+$kernel = new Kernel($_SERVER['APP_ENV'], (bool) $_SERVER['APP_DEBUG']);
 $application = new Application($kernel);
 $application->run($input);
diff --git a/config/bootstrap.php b/config/bootstrap.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..777a3e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/bootstrap.php
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+<?php
+use Symfony\Component\Dotenv\Dotenv;
+require dirname(__DIR__).'/vendor/autoload.php';
+// Load cached env vars if the .env.local.php file exists
+// Run "composer dump-env prod" to create it (requires symfony/flex >=1.2)
+if (is_array($env = @include dirname(__DIR__).'/.env.local.php')) {
+    foreach ($env as $k => $v) {
+        $_ENV[$k] = $_ENV[$k] ?? (isset($_SERVER[$k]) && 0 !== strpos($k, 'HTTP_') ? $_SERVER[$k] : $v);
+    }
+} elseif (!class_exists(Dotenv::class)) {
+    throw new RuntimeException('Please run "composer require symfony/dotenv" to load the ".env" files configuring the application.');
+} else {
+    // load all the .env files
+    (new Dotenv(false))->loadEnv(dirname(__DIR__).'/.env');
+}
+$_SERVER += $_ENV;
+$_SERVER['APP_ENV'] = $_ENV['APP_ENV'] = ($_SERVER['APP_ENV'] ?? $_ENV['APP_ENV'] ?? null) ?: 'dev';
+$_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'] = $_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'] ?? $_ENV['APP_DEBUG'] ?? 'prod' !== $_SERVER['APP_ENV'];
+$_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'] = $_ENV['APP_DEBUG'] = (int) $_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'] || filter_var($_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'], FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN) ? '1' : '0';
diff --git a/public/index.php b/public/index.php
index 10878ce..e30f90c 100644
--- a/public/index.php
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -2,37 +2,25 @@
 
 use App\Kernel;
 use Symfony\Component\Debug\Debug;
-use Symfony\Component\Dotenv\Dotenv;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
 
-require __DIR__.'/../vendor/autoload.php';
+require dirname(__DIR__).'/config/bootstrap.php';
 
-// The check is to ensure we don't use .env in production
-if (!isset($_SERVER['APP_ENV'])) {
-    if (!class_exists(Dotenv::class)) {
-        throw new \RuntimeException('APP_ENV environment variable is not defined. You need to define environment variables for configuration or add "symfony/dotenv" as a Composer dependency to load variables from a .env file.');
-    }
-    (new Dotenv())->load(__DIR__.'/../.env');
-}
-
-$env = $_SERVER['APP_ENV'] ?? 'dev';
-$debug = (bool) ($_SERVER['APP_DEBUG'] ?? ('prod' !== $env));
-
-if ($debug) {
+if ($_SERVER['APP_DEBUG']) {
     umask(0000);
 
     Debug::enable();
 }
 
-if ($trustedProxies = $_SERVER['TRUSTED_PROXIES'] ?? false) {
+if ($trustedProxies = $_SERVER['TRUSTED_PROXIES'] ?? $_ENV['TRUSTED_PROXIES'] ?? false) {
     Request::setTrustedProxies(explode(',', $trustedProxies), Request::HEADER_X_FORWARDED_ALL ^ Request::HEADER_X_FORWARDED_HOST);
 }
 
-if ($trustedHosts = $_SERVER['TRUSTED_HOSTS'] ?? false) {
-    Request::setTrustedHosts(explode(',', $trustedHosts));
+if ($trustedHosts = $_SERVER['TRUSTED_HOSTS'] ?? $_ENV['TRUSTED_HOSTS'] ?? false) {
+    Request::setTrustedHosts([$trustedHosts]);
 }
 
-$kernel = new Kernel($env, $debug);
+$kernel = new Kernel($_SERVER['APP_ENV'], (bool) $_SERVER['APP_DEBUG']);
 $request = Request::createFromGlobals();
 $response = $kernel->handle($request);
 $response->send();