diff --git a/core/includes/bootstrap.inc b/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
index 12ab6e9..cecfec6 100644
--- a/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
+++ b/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 
 use Drupal\Component\Utility\NestedArray;
+use Drupal\Component\Utility\Settings;
 use Drupal\Core\DrupalKernel;
 use Drupal\Core\Database\Database;
 use Drupal\Core\DependencyInjection\ContainerBuilder;
@@ -719,7 +720,7 @@ function drupal_settings_initialize() {
   global $base_url, $base_path, $base_root, $script_path;
 
   // Export these settings.php variables to the global namespace.
-  global $databases, $cookie_domain, $conf, $installed_profile, $update_free_access, $class_loader, $db_url, $db_prefix, $drupal_hash_salt, $is_https, $base_secure_url, $base_insecure_url, $config_directories;
+  global $databases, $cookie_domain, $conf, $installed_profile, $db_url, $db_prefix, $drupal_hash_salt, $is_https, $base_secure_url, $base_insecure_url, $config_directories;
   $conf = array();
 
   // Make conf_path() available as local variable in settings.php.
@@ -727,6 +728,8 @@ function drupal_settings_initialize() {
   if (is_readable(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . $conf_path . '/settings.php')) {
     include_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . $conf_path . '/settings.php';
   }
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Utility/Settings.php';
+  new Settings(isset($settings) ? $settings : array());
   $is_https = isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && strtolower($_SERVER['HTTPS']) == 'on';
 
   if (isset($base_url)) {
@@ -945,6 +948,25 @@ function drupal_get_filename($type, $name, $filename = NULL) {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Returns a setting.
+ *
+ * Settings can be set in settings.php in the $settings array and requested
+ * by this function. Settings should be used over configuration for read-only,
+ * possibly low bootstrap configuration that is environment specific.
+ *
+ * @param string $name
+ *   The name of the setting to return.
+ * @param mixed $default
+ *   (optional) The default value to use if this setting is not set.
+ *
+ * @return mixed
+ *   The value of the setting, the provided default if not set.
+ */
+function settings_get($name, $default = NULL) {
+  return Settings::$singleton->get($name, $default);
+}
+
+/**
  * Loads the persistent variable table.
  *
  * The variable table is composed of values that have been saved in the table
@@ -1391,7 +1413,7 @@ function drupal_serve_page_from_cache(stdClass $cache) {
   // response to reply to a subsequent request for a given URL without
   // revalidation. If a Vary header has been set in hook_boot(), it is assumed
   // that the module knows how to cache the page.
-  if (!isset($hook_boot_headers['vary']) && !config('system.performance')->get('cache.page.omit_vary_cookie')) {
+  if (!isset($hook_boot_headers['vary']) && !settings_get('omit_vary_cookie')) {
     header('Vary: Cookie');
   }
 
@@ -2120,7 +2142,7 @@ function drupal_bootstrap($phase = NULL, $new_phase = TRUE) {
           break;
 
         case DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_SESSION:
-          require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('session_inc', 'core/includes/session.inc');
+          require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . settings_get('session_inc', 'core/includes/session.inc');
           drupal_session_initialize();
           break;
 
@@ -2311,7 +2333,7 @@ function _drupal_bootstrap_page_cache() {
     require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . $include;
   }
   // Check for a cache mode force from settings.php.
-  if (variable_get('page_cache_without_database')) {
+  if (settings_get('page_cache_without_database')) {
     $cache_enabled = TRUE;
   }
   else {
@@ -3016,12 +3038,12 @@ function ip_address() {
   if (!isset($ip_address)) {
     $ip_address = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
 
-    if (variable_get('reverse_proxy', 0)) {
-      $reverse_proxy_header = variable_get('reverse_proxy_header', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
+    if (settings_get('reverse_proxy', 0)) {
+      $reverse_proxy_header = settings_get('reverse_proxy_header', 'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR');
       if (!empty($_SERVER[$reverse_proxy_header])) {
         // If an array of known reverse proxy IPs is provided, then trust
         // the XFF header if request really comes from one of them.
-        $reverse_proxy_addresses = variable_get('reverse_proxy_addresses', array());
+        $reverse_proxy_addresses = settings_get('reverse_proxy_addresses', array());
 
         // Turn XFF header into an array.
         $forwarded = explode(',', $_SERVER[$reverse_proxy_header]);
@@ -3061,12 +3083,11 @@ function drupal_classloader() {
   static $loader;
 
   if (!isset($loader)) {
-    global $class_loader;
 
     // Include the Symfony ClassLoader for loading PSR-0-compatible classes.
     require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/vendor/symfony/class-loader/Symfony/Component/ClassLoader/UniversalClassLoader.php';
 
-    switch ($class_loader) {
+    switch (settings_get('class_loader')) {
       case 'apc':
         if (function_exists('apc_store')) {
           require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/vendor/symfony/class-loader/Symfony/Component/ClassLoader/ApcUniversalClassLoader.php';
diff --git a/core/includes/common.inc b/core/includes/common.inc
index a8ba090..1623e01 100644
--- a/core/includes/common.inc
+++ b/core/includes/common.inc
@@ -809,7 +809,7 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, array $options = array()) {
   $options['timeout'] = (float) $options['timeout'];
 
   // Use a proxy if one is defined and the host is not on the excluded list.
-  $proxy_server = variable_get('proxy_server', '');
+  $proxy_server = settings_get('proxy_server', '');
   if ($proxy_server && _drupal_http_use_proxy($uri['host'])) {
     // Set the scheme so we open a socket to the proxy server.
     $uri['scheme'] = 'proxy';
@@ -819,13 +819,13 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, array $options = array()) {
     unset($uri['query']);
 
     // Add in username and password to Proxy-Authorization header if needed.
-    if ($proxy_username = variable_get('proxy_username', '')) {
-      $proxy_password = variable_get('proxy_password', '');
+    if ($proxy_username = settings_get('proxy_username', '')) {
+      $proxy_password = settings_get('proxy_password', '');
       $options['headers']['Proxy-Authorization'] = 'Basic ' . base64_encode($proxy_username . (!empty($proxy_password) ? ":" . $proxy_password : ''));
     }
     // Some proxies reject requests with any User-Agent headers, while others
     // require a specific one.
-    $proxy_user_agent = variable_get('proxy_user_agent', '');
+    $proxy_user_agent = settings_get('proxy_user_agent', '');
     // The default value matches neither condition.
     if ($proxy_user_agent === NULL) {
       unset($options['headers']['User-Agent']);
@@ -838,7 +838,7 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, array $options = array()) {
   switch ($uri['scheme']) {
     case 'proxy':
       // Make the socket connection to a proxy server.
-      $socket = 'tcp://' . $proxy_server . ':' . variable_get('proxy_port', 8080);
+      $socket = 'tcp://' . $proxy_server . ':' . settings_get('proxy_port', 8080);
       // The Host header still needs to match the real request.
       $options['headers']['Host'] = $uri['host'];
       $options['headers']['Host'] .= isset($uri['port']) && $uri['port'] != 80 ? ':' . $uri['port'] : '';
@@ -1068,7 +1068,7 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, array $options = array()) {
  *   TRUE if a proxy should be used for this host.
  */
 function _drupal_http_use_proxy($host) {
-  $proxy_exceptions = variable_get('proxy_exceptions', array('localhost', '127.0.0.1'));
+  $proxy_exceptions = settings_get('proxy_exceptions', array('localhost', '127.0.0.1'));
   return !in_array(strtolower($host), $proxy_exceptions, TRUE);
 }
 
@@ -4757,10 +4757,10 @@ function drupal_valid_token($token, $value = '', $skip_anonymous = FALSE) {
  * Loads code for subsystems and modules, and registers stream wrappers.
  */
 function _drupal_bootstrap_code() {
-  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('path_inc', 'core/includes/path.inc');
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . settings_get('path_inc', 'core/includes/path.inc');
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/theme.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/pager.inc';
-  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('menu_inc', 'core/includes/menu.inc');
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . settings_get('menu_inc', 'core/includes/menu.inc');
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/tablesort.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/file.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/unicode.inc';
diff --git a/core/includes/database.inc b/core/includes/database.inc
index 0cbaaa6..ec9bcf8 100644
--- a/core/includes/database.inc
+++ b/core/includes/database.inc
@@ -905,7 +905,7 @@ function db_ignore_slave() {
     // Five minutes is long enough to allow the slave to break and resume
     // interrupted replication without causing problems on the Drupal site from
     // the old data.
-    $duration = variable_get('maximum_replication_lag', 300);
+    $duration = settings_get('maximum_replication_lag', 300);
     // Set session variable with amount of time to delay before using slave.
     $_SESSION['ignore_slave_server'] = REQUEST_TIME + $duration;
   }
diff --git a/core/includes/install.core.inc b/core/includes/install.core.inc
index 755c2c1..60d1ab9 100644
--- a/core/includes/install.core.inc
+++ b/core/includes/install.core.inc
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ function install_begin_request(&$install_state) {
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/file.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/install.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/schema.inc';
-  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('path_inc', 'core/includes/path.inc');
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . settings_get('path_inc', 'core/includes/path.inc');
 
   // Load module basics (needed for hook invokes).
   include_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/module.inc';
diff --git a/core/includes/theme.maintenance.inc b/core/includes/theme.maintenance.inc
index 4b3e80c..76bd732 100644
--- a/core/includes/theme.maintenance.inc
+++ b/core/includes/theme.maintenance.inc
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ function _drupal_maintenance_theme() {
     return;
   }
 
-  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . variable_get('path_inc', 'core/includes/path.inc');
+  require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . settings_get('path_inc', 'core/includes/path.inc');
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/theme.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/common.inc';
   require_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/unicode.inc';
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Utility/Settings.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Utility/Settings.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40d25c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Utility/Settings.php
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\Component\Utility;
+
+class Settings {
+  protected $storage;
+  static $singleton;
+  function __construct(array $settings) {
+    $this->storage = $settings;
+    self::$singleton = $this;
+  }
+  function __set($name, $value) {
+    throw new \Exception('Nope.');
+  }
+  function get($name, $default = NULL) {
+    return isset($this->storage[$name]) ? $this->storage[$name] : $default;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/core/modules/system/config/system.performance.yml b/core/modules/system/config/system.performance.yml
index 61adb18..d508591 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/config/system.performance.yml
+++ b/core/modules/system/config/system.performance.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 cache:
   page:
     enabled: '0'
-    omit_vary_cookie: ''
     max_age: '0'
 css:
   preprocess: '0'
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Bootstrap/IpAddressTest.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Bootstrap/IpAddressTest.php
index a6f87ef..94a9e7c 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Bootstrap/IpAddressTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Bootstrap/IpAddressTest.php
@@ -58,14 +58,14 @@ function testIPAddressHost() {
     );
 
     // Proxy forwarding on but no proxy addresses defined.
-    variable_set('reverse_proxy', 1);
+    $GLOBALS['settings']['reverse_proxy'] = 1;
     $this->assertTrue(
       ip_address() == $this->remote_ip,
       'Proxy forwarding without trusted proxies got remote IP address.'
     );
 
     // Proxy forwarding on and proxy address not trusted.
-    variable_set('reverse_proxy_addresses', array($this->proxy_ip, $this->proxy2_ip));
+    $GLOBALS['settings']['reverse_proxy_addresses'] = array($this->proxy_ip, $this->proxy2_ip);
     drupal_static_reset('ip_address');
     $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] = $this->untrusted_ip;
     $this->assertTrue(
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ function testIPAddressHost() {
     );
 
     // Custom client-IP header.
-    variable_set('reverse_proxy_header', 'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP');
+    $GLOBALS['settings']['reverse_proxy_header'] = 'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP';
     $_SERVER['HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP'] = $this->cluster_ip;
     drupal_static_reset('ip_address');
     $this->assertTrue(
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
index 8c7d72a..2024b4b 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -416,11 +416,11 @@ function system_requirements($phase) {
 
   // Verify the update.php access setting
   if ($phase == 'runtime') {
-    if (!empty($GLOBALS['update_free_access'])) {
+    if (settings_get('update_free_access')) {
       $requirements['update access'] = array(
         'value' => $t('Not protected'),
         'severity' => REQUIREMENT_ERROR,
-        'description' => $t('The update.php script is accessible to everyone without authentication check, which is a security risk. You must change the $update_free_access value in your settings.php back to FALSE.'),
+        'description' => $t('The update.php script is accessible to everyone without authentication check, which is a security risk. You must change the @settings_name value in your settings.php back to FALSE.', array('@settings_name' => '$settings[\'update_free_access\']')),
       );
     }
     else {
@@ -1873,7 +1873,6 @@ function system_update_8017() {
     'page_compression' => 'response.gzip',
     'preprocess_css' => 'css.preprocess',
     'preprocess_js' => 'js.preprocess',
-    'omit_vary_cookie' => 'omit_vary_cookie',
     'stale_file_threshold' => 'stale_file_threshold',
   ));
 }
diff --git a/core/update.php b/core/update.php
index ff65c6e..f92ce47 100644
--- a/core/update.php
+++ b/core/update.php
@@ -209,8 +209,8 @@ function update_results_page() {
     $output .= '</p>';
   }
 
-  if (!empty($GLOBALS['update_free_access'])) {
-    $output .= "<p><strong>Reminder: don't forget to set the <code>\$update_free_access</code> value in your <code>settings.php</code> file back to <code>FALSE</code>.</strong></p>";
+  if (settings_get('update_free_access')) {
+    $output .= "<p><strong>Reminder: don't forget to set the <code>\$settings['update_free_access']</code> value in your <code>settings.php</code> file back to <code>FALSE</code>.</strong></p>";
   }
 
   $output .= theme('links', array('links' => update_helpful_links()));
@@ -311,8 +311,8 @@ function update_access_denied_page() {
   return '<p>Access denied. You are not authorized to access this page. Log in using either an account with the <em>administer software updates</em> permission or the site maintenance account (the account you created during installation). If you cannot log in, you will have to edit <code>settings.php</code> to bypass this access check. To do this:</p>
 <ol>
  <li>With a text editor find the settings.php file on your system. From the main Drupal directory that you installed all the files into, go to <code>sites/your_site_name</code> if such directory exists, or else to <code>sites/default</code> which applies otherwise.</li>
- <li>There is a line inside your settings.php file that says <code>$update_free_access = FALSE;</code>. Change it to <code>$update_free_access = TRUE;</code>.</li>
- <li>As soon as the update.php script is done, you must change the settings.php file back to its original form with <code>$update_free_access = FALSE;</code>.</li>
+ <li>There is a line inside your settings.php file that says <code>$settings[\'update_free_access\'] = FALSE;</code>. Change it to <code>$settings[\'update_free_access\'] = TRUE;</code>.</li>
+ <li>As soon as the update.php script is done, you must change the settings.php file back to its original form with <code>$settings[\'update_free_access\'] = FALSE;</code>.</li>
  <li>To avoid having this problem in the future, remember to log in to your website using either an account with the <em>administer software updates</em> permission or the site maintenance account (the account you created during installation) before you backup your database at the beginning of the update process.</li>
 </ol>';
 }
@@ -324,10 +324,10 @@ function update_access_denied_page() {
  *   TRUE if the current user should be granted access, or FALSE otherwise.
  */
 function update_access_allowed() {
-  global $update_free_access, $user;
+  global $user;
 
   // Allow the global variable in settings.php to override the access check.
-  if (!empty($update_free_access)) {
+  if (settings_get('update_free_access')) {
     return TRUE;
   }
   // Calls to user_access() might fail during the Drupal 6 to 7 update process,
diff --git a/sites/default/default.settings.php b/sites/default/default.settings.php
index e60b2f5..0c542f6 100644
--- a/sites/default/default.settings.php
+++ b/sites/default/default.settings.php
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@
  * After finishing the upgrade, be sure to open this file again and change the
  * TRUE back to a FALSE!
  */
-$update_free_access = FALSE;
+$settings['update_free_access'] = FALSE;
 
 /**
  * Salt for one-time login links and cancel links, form tokens, etc.
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@
  *  $class_loader = 'apc'
  *  $class_loader = 'default'
  */
-# $class_loader = 'apc';
+# $settings['class_loader'] = 'apc';
 
 /**
  * Location of the site configuration files.
@@ -412,35 +412,35 @@
  * malicious client could bypass restrictions by setting the
  * X-Forwarded-For header directly. Therefore, Drupal's proxy
  * configuration requires the IP addresses of all remote proxies to be
- * specified in $conf['reverse_proxy_addresses'] to work correctly.
+ * specified in $settings['reverse_proxy_addresses'] to work correctly.
  *
  * Enable this setting to get Drupal to determine the client IP from
- * the X-Forwarded-For header (or $conf['reverse_proxy_header'] if set).
+ * the X-Forwarded-For header (or $settings['reverse_proxy_header'] if set).
  * If you are unsure about this setting, do not have a reverse proxy,
  * or Drupal operates in a shared hosting environment, this setting
  * should remain commented out.
  *
  * In order for this setting to be used you must specify every possible
- * reverse proxy IP address in $conf['reverse_proxy_addresses'].
+ * reverse proxy IP address in $settings['reverse_proxy_addresses'].
  * If a complete list of reverse proxies is not available in your
  * environment (for example, if you use a CDN) you may set the
  * $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] variable directly in settings.php.
  * Be aware, however, that it is likely that this would allow IP
  * address spoofing unless more advanced precautions are taken.
  */
-# $conf['reverse_proxy'] = TRUE;
+# $settings['reverse_proxy'] = TRUE;
 
 /**
  * Specify every reverse proxy IP address in your environment.
- * This setting is required if $conf['reverse_proxy'] is TRUE.
+ * This setting is required if $settings['reverse_proxy'] is TRUE.
  */
-# $conf['reverse_proxy_addresses'] = array('a.b.c.d', ...);
+# $settings['reverse_proxy_addresses'] = array('a.b.c.d', ...);
 
 /**
  * Set this value if your proxy server sends the client IP in a header
  * other than X-Forwarded-For.
  */
-# $conf['reverse_proxy_header'] = 'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP';
+# $settings['reverse_proxy_header'] = 'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP';
 
 /**
  * Page caching:
@@ -458,7 +458,7 @@
  * HTTP proxy, and bypass the reverse proxy if one is used) in order to avoid
  * getting cached pages from the proxy.
  */
-# $conf['system.performance']['cache']['page']['omit_vary_cookie'] = TRUE;
+# $settings['omit_vary_cookie'] = TRUE;
 
 /**
  * CSS/JS aggregated file gzip compression:
@@ -523,12 +523,12 @@
  * proxy_exceptions variable is an array of host names to be accessed directly,
  * not via proxy.
  */
-# $conf['proxy_server'] = '';
-# $conf['proxy_port'] = 8080;
-# $conf['proxy_username'] = '';
-# $conf['proxy_password'] = '';
-# $conf['proxy_user_agent'] = '';
-# $conf['proxy_exceptions'] = array('127.0.0.1', 'localhost');
+# $settings['proxy_server'] = '';
+# $settings['proxy_port'] = 8080;
+# $settings['proxy_username'] = '';
+# $settings['proxy_password'] = '';
+# $settings['proxy_user_agent'] = '';
+# $settings['proxy_exceptions'] = array('127.0.0.1', 'localhost');
 
 /**
  * Authorized file system operations:
