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