diff --git a/src/common/FSNodeZIP.cxx b/src/common/FSNodeZIP.cxx
index ad7a0cf4c..50cbb770a 100644
--- a/src/common/FSNodeZIP.cxx
+++ b/src/common/FSNodeZIP.cxx
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ FilesystemNodeZIP::FilesystemNodeZIP(const string& p)
   if (_zipFile[0] == '~')
   {
 #if defined(BSPF_UNIX) || defined(BSPF_MACOS)
-    const string& home = BSPF::getenv("HOME");
-    if (home != EmptyString)
+    const char* home = std::getenv("HOME");
+    if (home != nullptr)
       _zipFile.replace(0, 1, home);
 #elif defined(BSPF_WINDOWS)
     _zipFile.replace(0, 1, myHomeFinder.getHomePath());
diff --git a/src/common/bspf.hxx b/src/common/bspf.hxx
index d033272e6..10863f5ca 100644
--- a/src/common/bspf.hxx
+++ b/src/common/bspf.hxx
@@ -355,30 +355,6 @@ namespace BSPF
     return tm_snapshot;
   }
 
-  // Coverity complains if 'getenv' is used unrestricted
-  inline string getenv(const string& env_var)
-  {
-  #if (defined BSPF_WINDOWS || defined __WIN32__) && !defined __GNUG__
-    char* buf = nullptr;
-    size_t sz = 0;
-    if(_dupenv_s(&buf, &sz, env_var.c_str()) == 0 && buf != nullptr)
-    {
-      string val(buf);
-      free(buf);
-      return val;
-    }
-    return EmptyString;
-  #else
-    try {
-      const char* val = std::getenv(env_var.c_str());
-      return val ? string(val) : EmptyString;
-    }
-    catch(...) {
-      return EmptyString;
-    }
-  #endif
-  }
-
   inline bool isWhiteSpace(const char s)
   {
     const string WHITESPACES = " ,.;:+-*&/\\'";
diff --git a/src/unix/FSNodePOSIX.cxx b/src/unix/FSNodePOSIX.cxx
index 3ce8aa44b..79aaec46c 100644
--- a/src/unix/FSNodePOSIX.cxx
+++ b/src/unix/FSNodePOSIX.cxx
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ FilesystemNodePOSIX::FilesystemNodePOSIX(const string& path, bool verify)
   // Expand '~' to the HOME environment variable
   if(_path[0] == '~')
   {
-    const string& home = BSPF::getenv("HOME");
-    if(home != EmptyString)
+    const char* home = std::getenv("HOME");
+    if (home != nullptr)
       _path.replace(0, 1, home);
   }
   // Get absolute path (only used for relative directories)
@@ -78,7 +78,9 @@ void FilesystemNodePOSIX::setFlags()
 string FilesystemNodePOSIX::getShortPath() const
 {
   // If the path starts with the home directory, replace it with '~'
-  const string& home = BSPF::getenv("HOME");
+  const char* env_home = std::getenv("HOME");
+  const string& home = env_home != nullptr ? env_home : EmptyString;
+
   if(home != EmptyString && BSPF::startsWithIgnoreCase(_path, home))
   {
     string path = "~";
diff --git a/src/unix/OSystemUNIX.cxx b/src/unix/OSystemUNIX.cxx
index edcd808d0..2dc62d6bf 100644
--- a/src/unix/OSystemUNIX.cxx
+++ b/src/unix/OSystemUNIX.cxx
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ void OSystemUNIX::getBaseDirectories(string& basedir, string& homedir,
                                      bool useappdir, const string& usedir)
 {
   // Use XDG_CONFIG_HOME if defined, otherwise use the default
-  string configDir = BSPF::getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
-  if(configDir == EmptyString)  configDir = "~/.config";
+  const char* cfg_home = std::getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
+  const string& configDir = cfg_home != nullptr ? cfg_home : "~/.config";
   basedir = configDir + "/stella";
   homedir = "~/";