diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 44f3983..df4d1fe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ tree -I '*svn|*node_module*|*git|py3|*.pyc|__pycache__|statics'
 ```
 软件架构说明
 
-* .env 环境配置文件，只有一个section [sys]，一个变量 TREST_ENV
+* .env 环境配置文件，只有一个section [sys]，一个变量 RUNTIME_ENV
 * configs 应用配置文件
     * configs/local.yaml 本地开发环境相关配置
     * configs/dev.yaml 开发环境相关配置
@@ -144,9 +144,9 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
 在 项目根目录（ ROOT_PATH ） 下面创建 [.env 文件](https://gitee.com/leeyi/trest/blob/master/demo_dot.env)
 ```
-# TREST_ENV is not one of the local, dev, test, or product
-TREST_ENV : dev
-
+# RUNTIME_ENV is not one of the local, dev, test, or product
+# the colon must have Spaces around it
+RUNTIME_ENV : local
 ```
 
 run
diff --git a/README_zh.md b/README_zh.md
index 44f3983..df4d1fe 100644
--- a/README_zh.md
+++ b/README_zh.md
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ tree -I '*svn|*node_module*|*git|py3|*.pyc|__pycache__|statics'
 ```
 软件架构说明
 
-* .env 环境配置文件，只有一个section [sys]，一个变量 TREST_ENV
+* .env 环境配置文件，只有一个section [sys]，一个变量 RUNTIME_ENV
 * configs 应用配置文件
     * configs/local.yaml 本地开发环境相关配置
     * configs/dev.yaml 开发环境相关配置
@@ -144,9 +144,9 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
 在 项目根目录（ ROOT_PATH ） 下面创建 [.env 文件](https://gitee.com/leeyi/trest/blob/master/demo_dot.env)
 ```
-# TREST_ENV is not one of the local, dev, test, or product
-TREST_ENV : dev
-
+# RUNTIME_ENV is not one of the local, dev, test, or product
+# the colon must have Spaces around it
+RUNTIME_ENV : local
 ```
 
 run
diff --git a/demo_dot.env b/demo_dot.env
index 0f29899..2266de1 100644
--- a/demo_dot.env
+++ b/demo_dot.env
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
-# TREST_ENV is not one of the local, dev, test, or product
-TREST_ENV : dev
+# RUNTIME_ENV is not one of the local, dev, test, or product
+# the colon must have Spaces around it
+RUNTIME_ENV : local
diff --git a/trest/config/__init__.py b/trest/config/__init__.py
index 85eea54..3e5935d 100644
--- a/trest/config/__init__.py
+++ b/trest/config/__init__.py
@@ -17,13 +17,15 @@
 else:
     raise ConfigError('ROOT_PATH is not configured')
 
-with open(f'{ROOT_PATH}/.env', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-    cfg = yaml.safe_load(f)
+env = os.getenv('RUNTIME_ENV')
+if not env:
+    with open(f'{ROOT_PATH}/.env', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        cfg = yaml.safe_load(f)
+    env = cfg.get('RUNTIME_ENV','')
 
-env = cfg.get('TREST_ENV','')
-# 检查系统环境变量 TREST_ENV 设置
+# 检查系统环境变量 RUNTIME_ENV 设置
 if env not in ['local', 'dev', 'test', 'product']:
-    msg = f'The system variable TREST_ENV ({env}) is not one of the local, dev, test, or product'
+    msg = f'The system variable RUNTIME_ENV ({env}) is not one of the local, dev, test, or product'
     raise ConfigError(msg)
 
 _yf = f'{ROOT_PATH}/configs/{env}.yaml'