diff --git a/src/qt/test/test_main.cpp b/src/qt/test/test_main.cpp
--- a/src/qt/test/test_main.cpp
+++ b/src/qt/test/test_main.cpp
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
     // Prefer the "minimal" platform for the test instead of the normal default
     // platform ("xcb", "windows", or "cocoa") so tests can't unintentially
     // interfere with any background GUIs and don't require extra resources.
-    setenv("QT_QPA_PLATFORM", "minimal", 0);
+    SetEnvironmentalVariable("QT_QPA_PLATFORM", "minimal");
 
     // Don't remove this, it's needed to access
     // QApplication:: and QCoreApplication:: in the tests
diff --git a/src/test/util_tests.cpp b/src/test/util_tests.cpp
--- a/src/test/util_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/test/util_tests.cpp
@@ -713,4 +713,9 @@
                             0x15, 0x0f, 0x06, 0x1e, 0x1e});
 }
 
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(util_EnvironmentalVariables) {
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(SetEnvironmentalVariable("BOOSTTEST", "TestValue"), 0);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(GetEnvironmentalVariable("BOOSTTEST"), "TestValue");
+}
+
 BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -219,6 +219,14 @@
     }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Platform independent function to set environmental variable.
+ */
+int SetEnvironmentalVariable(const char *variableName,
+                             const char *variableValue);
+
+const char *GetEnvironmentalVariable(const char *variableName);
+
 std::string CopyrightHolders(const std::string &strPrefix);
 
 #endif // BITCOIN_UTIL_H
diff --git a/src/util.cpp b/src/util.cpp
--- a/src/util.cpp
+++ b/src/util.cpp
@@ -645,6 +645,25 @@
            strprintf(_(COPYRIGHT_HOLDERS), _(COPYRIGHT_HOLDERS_SUBSTITUTION));
 }
 
+/**
+ * Platform independent function to set environmental variable.
+ */
+int SetEnvironmentalVariable(const char *variableName,
+                             const char *variableValue) {
+#if defined(WIN32)
+    return _putenv_s(variableName, variableValue);
+#else
+    return setenv(variableName, variableValue, 0);
+#endif
+}
+
+/**
+ * Platform independent function to get environmental variable.
+ */
+const char *GetEnvironmentalVariable(const char *variableName) {
+    return getenv(variableName);
+}
+
 // Obtain the application startup time (used for uptime calculation)
 int64_t GetStartupTime() {
     return nStartupTime;