diff --git a/src/corelib/global/qglobal.cpp b/src/corelib/global/qglobal.cpp
index a0c943df62..f526387eb4 100644
--- a/src/corelib/global/qglobal.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/global/qglobal.cpp
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 #include "qthreadstorage.h"
 #include "qdir.h"
 #include "qdatetime.h"
+#include <private/qlocale_tools_p.h>
 
 #ifndef QT_NO_QOBJECT
 #include <private/qthread_p.h>
@@ -3011,6 +3012,53 @@ bool qEnvironmentVariableIsEmpty(const char *varName) Q_DECL_NOEXCEPT
 #endif
 }
 
+/*!
+    \relates <QtGlobal>
+    \since 5.5
+
+    Returns the numerical value of the environment variable \a varName.
+    If \a ok is not null, sets \c{*ok} to \c true or \c false depending
+    on the success of the conversion.
+
+    Equivalent to
+    \code
+    qgetenv(varName).toInt()
+    \endcode
+    except that it's much faster, and can't throw exceptions.
+
+    \sa qgetenv(), qEnvironmentVariableIsSet()
+*/
+int qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(const char *varName, bool *ok) Q_DECL_NOEXCEPT
+{
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && _MSC_VER >= 1400
+    // we provide a buffer that can hold any int value:
+    static const int NumBinaryDigitsPerOctalDigit = 3;
+    static const int MaxDigitsForOctalInt =
+        (std::numeric_limits<uint>::digits + NumBinaryDigitsPerOctalDigit - 1) / NumBinaryDigitsPerOctalDigit;
+    char buffer[MaxDigitsForOctalInt + 2]; // +1 for NUL +1 for optional '-'
+    size_t dummy;
+    if (getenv_s(&dummy, buffer, sizeof buffer, varName) != 0) {
+        if (ok)
+            *ok = false;
+        return 0;
+    }
+#else
+    const char * const buffer = ::getenv(varName);
+    if (!buffer || !*buffer) {
+        if (ok)
+            *ok = false;
+        return 0;
+    }
+#endif
+    const qlonglong value = qstrtoll(buffer, Q_NULLPTR, 0, ok);
+    if (int(value) != value) { // this is the check in QByteArray::toInt(), keep it in sync
+        if (ok)
+            *ok = false;
+        return 0;
+    }
+    return int(value);
+}
+
 /*!
     \relates <QtGlobal>
     \since 5.1
diff --git a/src/corelib/global/qglobal.h b/src/corelib/global/qglobal.h
index 9176d80f43..412996e462 100644
--- a/src/corelib/global/qglobal.h
+++ b/src/corelib/global/qglobal.h
@@ -1035,6 +1035,7 @@ Q_CORE_EXPORT bool qunsetenv(const char *varName);
 
 Q_CORE_EXPORT bool qEnvironmentVariableIsEmpty(const char *varName) Q_DECL_NOEXCEPT;
 Q_CORE_EXPORT bool qEnvironmentVariableIsSet(const char *varName) Q_DECL_NOEXCEPT;
+Q_CORE_EXPORT int  qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(const char *varName, bool *ok=0) Q_DECL_NOEXCEPT;
 
 inline int qIntCast(double f) { return int(f); }
 inline int qIntCast(float f) { return int(f); }
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/global/qgetputenv/tst_qgetputenv.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/global/qgetputenv/tst_qgetputenv.cpp
index ef41ef8801..e95b86d239 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/global/qgetputenv/tst_qgetputenv.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/global/qgetputenv/tst_qgetputenv.cpp
@@ -49,14 +49,22 @@ class tst_QGetPutEnv : public QObject
 Q_OBJECT
 private slots:
     void getSetCheck();
+    void intValue_data();
+    void intValue();
 };
 
 void tst_QGetPutEnv::getSetCheck()
 {
     const char varName[] = "should_not_exist";
 
+    bool ok;
+
     QVERIFY(!qEnvironmentVariableIsSet(varName));
     QVERIFY(qEnvironmentVariableIsEmpty(varName));
+    ok = true;
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName), 0);
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName, &ok), 0);
+    QVERIFY(!ok);
     QByteArray result = qgetenv(varName);
     QCOMPARE(result, QByteArray());
 
@@ -65,12 +73,20 @@ void tst_QGetPutEnv::getSetCheck()
 
     QVERIFY(qEnvironmentVariableIsSet(varName));
     QVERIFY(qEnvironmentVariableIsEmpty(varName));
+    ok = true;
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName), 0);
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName, &ok), 0);
+    QVERIFY(!ok);
 #endif
 
     QVERIFY(qputenv(varName, QByteArray("supervalue")));
 
     QVERIFY(qEnvironmentVariableIsSet(varName));
     QVERIFY(!qEnvironmentVariableIsEmpty(varName));
+    ok = true;
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName), 0);
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName, &ok), 0);
+    QVERIFY(!ok);
     result = qgetenv(varName);
     QVERIFY(result == "supervalue");
 
@@ -80,9 +96,61 @@ void tst_QGetPutEnv::getSetCheck()
     QVERIFY(qunsetenv(varName));
     QVERIFY(!qEnvironmentVariableIsSet(varName));
     QVERIFY(qEnvironmentVariableIsEmpty(varName));
+    ok = true;
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName), 0);
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName, &ok), 0);
+    QVERIFY(!ok);
     result = qgetenv(varName);
     QCOMPARE(result, QByteArray());
 }
 
+void tst_QGetPutEnv::intValue_data()
+{
+    QTest::addColumn<QByteArray>("value");
+    QTest::addColumn<int>("expected");
+    QTest::addColumn<bool>("ok");
+
+    // most non-success cases already tested in getSetCheck()
+
+#define ROW(x, i, b) \
+    QTest::newRow(#x) << QByteArray(#x) << (i) << (b)
+    ROW(auto, 0, false);
+    ROW(0, 0, true);
+    ROW(1, 1, true);
+    ROW(010, 8, true);
+    ROW(0x10, 16, true);
+    ROW(-1, -1, true);
+    ROW(-010, -8, true);
+    // ROW(0xffffffff, -1, true); // could be expected, but not how QByteArray::toInt() works
+    ROW(0xffffffff, 0, false);
+    const int bases[] = {10, 8, 16};
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < sizeof bases / sizeof *bases; ++i) {
+        QTest::newRow(qPrintable(QString().sprintf("INT_MAX, base %d", bases[i])))
+                << QByteArray::number(INT_MAX) << INT_MAX << true;
+        QTest::newRow(qPrintable(QString().sprintf("INT_MAX+1, base %d", bases[i])))
+                << QByteArray::number(qlonglong(INT_MAX) + 1) << 0 << false;
+        QTest::newRow(qPrintable(QString().sprintf("INT_MIN, base %d", bases[i])))
+                << QByteArray::number(INT_MIN) << INT_MIN << true;
+        QTest::newRow(qPrintable(QString().sprintf("INT_MIN-1, base %d", bases[i])))
+                << QByteArray::number(qlonglong(INT_MIN) - 1) << 0 << false;
+    };
+}
+
+void tst_QGetPutEnv::intValue()
+{
+    const char varName[] = "should_not_exist";
+
+    QFETCH(QByteArray, value);
+    QFETCH(int, expected);
+    QFETCH(bool, ok);
+
+    bool actualOk = !ok;
+
+    QVERIFY(qputenv(varName, value));
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName), expected);
+    QCOMPARE(qEnvironmentVariableIntValue(varName, &actualOk), expected);
+    QCOMPARE(actualOk, ok);
+}
+
 QTEST_MAIN(tst_QGetPutEnv)
 #include "tst_qgetputenv.moc"