diff --git a/qmake/doc/src/qmake-manual.qdoc b/qmake/doc/src/qmake-manual.qdoc
index 958550ce91..01313b405f 100644
--- a/qmake/doc/src/qmake-manual.qdoc
+++ b/qmake/doc/src/qmake-manual.qdoc
@@ -2559,6 +2559,13 @@
 
     See also \l{infile(filename, var, val)}{infile()}.
 
+    \section2 getenv(variablename)
+
+    Returns the value of the environment variable \c variablename.
+    This is mostly equivalent to the \c $$(variablename) syntax.
+    The \c getenv function, however, supports environment variables with
+    parentheses in their name.
+
     \section2 join(variablename, glue, before, after)
 
     Joins the value of \c variablename with \c glue. If this value is
diff --git a/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp b/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
index 96de34fd14..36f808197a 100644
--- a/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
+++ b/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ enum ExpandFunc {
     E_UPPER, E_LOWER, E_TITLE, E_FILES, E_PROMPT, E_RE_ESCAPE, E_VAL_ESCAPE,
     E_REPLACE, E_SORT_DEPENDS, E_RESOLVE_DEPENDS, E_ENUMERATE_VARS,
     E_SHADOWED, E_ABSOLUTE_PATH, E_RELATIVE_PATH, E_CLEAN_PATH,
-    E_SYSTEM_PATH, E_SHELL_PATH, E_SYSTEM_QUOTE, E_SHELL_QUOTE
+    E_SYSTEM_PATH, E_SHELL_PATH, E_SYSTEM_QUOTE, E_SHELL_QUOTE, E_GETENV
 };
 
 enum TestFunc {
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ void QMakeEvaluator::initFunctionStatics()
         { "shell_path", E_SHELL_PATH },
         { "system_quote", E_SYSTEM_QUOTE },
         { "shell_quote", E_SHELL_QUOTE },
+        { "getenv", E_GETENV },
     };
     for (unsigned i = 0; i < sizeof(expandInits)/sizeof(expandInits[0]); ++i)
         statics.expands.insert(ProKey(expandInits[i].name), expandInits[i].func);
@@ -1090,6 +1091,15 @@ ProStringList QMakeEvaluator::evaluateBuiltinExpand(
             ret << (rstr.isSharedWith(m_tmp1) ? args.at(0) : ProString(rstr).setSource(args.at(0)));
         }
         break;
+    case E_GETENV:
+        if (args.count() != 1) {
+            evalError(fL1S("getenv(arg) requires one argument."));
+        } else {
+            const ProString &var = args.at(0);
+            const ProString &val = ProString(m_option->getEnv(var.toQString(m_tmp1)));
+            ret << val;
+        }
+        break;
     default:
         evalError(fL1S("Function '%1' is not implemented.").arg(func.toQString(m_tmp1)));
         break;