diff --git a/src/backends/detection/detection.hpp b/src/backends/detection/detection.hpp
index b07b0b526d7b034bb4d0e3f36d66a772b93c0e17..e1d87582e2d2f52046fa0e987b060145784abef8 100644
--- a/src/backends/detection/detection.hpp
+++ b/src/backends/detection/detection.hpp
@@ -42,12 +42,7 @@ class DetectionStrategy : public ProperlyNestedAnnotationStrategy {
       "DETECTION_VERBOSE", "Enables the verbose mode in the detection backend",
       true);
 
-  std::mutex starts_mutex_;
-  std::mutex ends_mutex_;
-  EnvironmentVariable<bool, false> verbose_mode_ =
-      EnvironmentVariable<bool, false>(
-          "DETECTION_VERBOSE",
-          "Enables the verbose mode in the detection backend");
+  bool has_errors_ = false;
 
  public:
   DetectionStrategy();
diff --git a/src/backends/dlb/dlb_talp_tree/dlb_talp_tree.hpp b/src/backends/dlb/dlb_talp_tree/dlb_talp_tree.hpp
index 56f124b7267d5f5de53f778edbd99556c253b94d..f013186f93d88e5f4143c4e3ac1ea0bc1ad5f4f0 100644
--- a/src/backends/dlb/dlb_talp_tree/dlb_talp_tree.hpp
+++ b/src/backends/dlb/dlb_talp_tree/dlb_talp_tree.hpp
@@ -33,22 +33,21 @@ class DLBTalpTreeStrategy : public ProperlyNestedAnnotationStrategy {
 
   // Configuration variables
   inline static const std::string def_json_file_name_ = "nesmik_talp_tree.json";
-  EnvironmentVariable<std::string, false> env_json_file_name_ =
-      EnvironmentVariable<std::string, false>(
-          "JSON_FILE",
-          "Set the name of the output JSON file. (default: "
-          "nesmik_talp_tree.json)");
+  EnvironmentVariable<std::string> env_json_file_name_ = EnvironmentVariable<
+      std::string>(
+      "JSON_FILE",
+      "Set the name of the output JSON file. (default: nesmik_talp_tree.json)",
+      false);
 
   inline static const bool def_enable_json_ = true;
-  EnvironmentVariable<bool, false> env_enable_json_ =
-      EnvironmentVariable<bool, false>("JSON_OUTPUT",
-                                       "Enables output to a JSON file.");
+  EnvironmentVariable<bool> env_enable_json_ = EnvironmentVariable<bool>(
+      "JSON_OUTPUT", "Enables output to a JSON file.", false);
 
   inline static const bool def_enable_ascii_ = false;
-  EnvironmentVariable<bool, false> env_enable_ascii_ =
-      EnvironmentVariable<bool, false>(
-          "ASCII_OUTPUT",
-          "Enables human readable output to standard output. (default: off)");
+  EnvironmentVariable<bool> env_enable_ascii_ = EnvironmentVariable<bool>(
+      "ASCII_OUTPUT",
+      "Enables human readable output to standard output. (default: off)",
+      false);
 
  public:
   DLBTalpTreeStrategy();
diff --git a/src/backends/extrae/extrae_type_stack.hpp b/src/backends/extrae/extrae_type_stack.hpp
index 30ffb3c46a0cb88e8a40d4aa4b5e58b38baf0275..207894a5342c1bc5fef0f34069f0e918be718a19 100644
--- a/src/backends/extrae/extrae_type_stack.hpp
+++ b/src/backends/extrae/extrae_type_stack.hpp
@@ -25,10 +25,9 @@ class ExtraeTypeStackStrategy : public ProperlyNestedAnnotationStrategy {
   static const std::string paraverConfigOverviewWindow;
   static const std::string paraverConfigLevelWindow;
 
-  EnvironmentVariable<bool, false> write_config_file_ =
-      EnvironmentVariable<bool, false>(
-          "EXTRAE_WRITE_CONFIG_FILE",
-          "Write corresponding Paraver .cfg file if set to True");
+  EnvironmentVariable<bool> write_config_file_ = EnvironmentVariable<bool>(
+      "EXTRAE_WRITE_CONFIG_FILE",
+      "Write corresponding Paraver .cfg file if set to True", false);
 
   inline static bool didInitialize{false};
 
diff --git a/src/delegator.cpp b/src/delegator.cpp
index 259e7f0bca4fb989e152be45fd11a783d54a455c..ea73f973363c0211b307824be7c3f6a5259f298c 100644
--- a/src/delegator.cpp
+++ b/src/delegator.cpp
@@ -92,11 +92,14 @@ void Delegator::Init(std::string_view nesting_mode, std::string_view backend) {
   if (stringsAreCaseInsensitiveEqual("ENV", std::string(backend))) {
     // We instantiate the variable here, because its only required if the
     // backend is set to "env".
-    EnvironmentVariable<std::string, true> env_backend(
-        "BACKEND",
-        "Set the backend to use, when init with \"env\" backend name.");
-
-    backend = env_backend.getValue();
+    EnvironmentVariable<std::string> env_backend =
+        EnvironmentVariable<std::string>(
+            "BACKEND",
+            "Set the backend to use, when init with \"env\" backend name.",
+            true);
+
+    // Unwraping the std::optional is safe because the variable is required.
+    backend = env_backend.getValue().value();
   }
 
   // next choose backend
diff --git a/src/utils/environment_variable.hpp b/src/utils/environment_variable.hpp
index ea04550126b30bdfa03ca8bb8d62ab35dc400d2a..edf98f3ddf319d3a50882842e7cf107a80251fd1 100644
--- a/src/utils/environment_variable.hpp
+++ b/src/utils/environment_variable.hpp
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ std::optional<bool> fromEnvString(const std::string &env_string);
 template <>
 std::optional<std::string> fromEnvString(const std::string &env_string);
 
-template <typename T, bool required>
+template <typename T>
 class EnvironmentVariable {
   inline static std::string PREFIX = "NESMIK_";
 
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class EnvironmentVariable {
       Upon construction it will do the getenv
   */
   EnvironmentVariable(const std::string &variable_name,
-                      const std::string &description)
+                      const std::string &description, bool required = false)
       : variable_name_(variable_name), description_(description) {
     const std::string variable_to_query =
         EnvironmentVariable::PREFIX + variable_name_;
@@ -49,13 +49,7 @@ class EnvironmentVariable {
   std::optional<T> value_;
 
  public:
-  auto getValue() const {
-    if constexpr (required) {
-      return value_.value();
-    } else {
-      return value_;
-    }
-  }
+  std::optional<T> getValue() const { return value_; }
   bool isSet() const { return value_.has_value(); }
 };