diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7956c475..b9f5900a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-.env.*
 /.idea
 /vendor
+.env
 .DS_Store
 Thumbs.db
 composer.lock
diff --git a/bootstrap/environment.php b/bootstrap/environment.php
index f133a3d9..b676d2c0 100644
--- a/bootstrap/environment.php
+++ b/bootstrap/environment.php
@@ -1,5 +1,27 @@
 <?php
 
+/*
+|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+| Load Environment Variables
+|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+|
+| Next we will load the environment variables for the application which
+| are stored in the ".env" file. These variables will be loaded into
+| the $_ENV and "putenv" facilities of PHP so they stay available.
+|
+*/
+
+try
+{
+	Dotenv::load(__DIR__.'/../');
+
+	Dotenv::required('APP_ENV');
+}
+catch (RuntimeException $e)
+{
+	die('Application environment not configured.'.PHP_EOL);
+}
+
 /*
 |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 | Detect The Application Environment
@@ -11,8 +33,7 @@
 |
 */
 
-$env = $app->detectEnvironment([
-
-	'local' => ['homestead'],
-
-]);
+$env = $app->detectEnvironment(function()
+{
+	return getenv('APP_ENV');
+});