diff --git a/tests/fixtures/fixtures.cpp b/tests/fixtures/fixtures.cpp
index 6a2fb90..82ba067 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/fixtures.cpp
+++ b/tests/fixtures/fixtures.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 // header include
 #include "fixtures.h"
 
-// system includes
-#include <cstdlib>
-
 // local includes
 #include "displaydevice/logging.h"
 
@@ -92,7 +89,7 @@ BaseTest::skipTest() const {
   if (isSystemTest()) {
     const static bool is_system_test_skippable {
       []() {
-        const std::string value { std::getenv("SKIP_SYSTEM_TESTS") };
+        const auto value { getEnv("SKIP_SYSTEM_TESTS") };
         return value == "1";
       }()
     };
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/testutils.cpp b/tests/fixtures/testutils.cpp
index 503dc45..1947562 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/testutils.cpp
+++ b/tests/fixtures/testutils.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 // header include
 #include "testutils.h"
 
+// system includes
+#include <cstdlib>
+
 // system includes
 #include <iostream>
 #include <regex>
@@ -26,3 +29,11 @@ setEnv(const std::string &name, const std::string &value) {
   return setenv(name.c_str(), value.c_str(), 1);
 #endif
 }
+
+std::optional<std::string>
+getEnv(const std::string &name) {
+  if (const auto value { std::getenv(name.c_str()) }; value) {
+    return std::string { value };
+  }
+  return std::nullopt;
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/testutils.h b/tests/fixtures/testutils.h
index f49271b..a73de6a 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/testutils.h
+++ b/tests/fixtures/testutils.h
@@ -1,20 +1,29 @@
 #pragma once
 
 // system includes
+#include <optional>
 #include <string>
 
 /**
  * @brief Test regular expression against string.
- * @return True if string matches the regex, false otherwise
+ * @return True if string matches the regex, false otherwise.
  */
 bool
 testRegex(const std::string &test_pattern, const std::string &regex_pattern);
 
 /**
  * @brief Set an environment variable.
- * @param name Name of the environment variable
- * @param value Value of the environment variable
- * @return 0 on success, non-zero error code on failure
+ * @param name Name of the environment variable.
+ * @param value Value of the environment variable.
+ * @return 0 on success, non-zero error code on failure.
  */
 int
 setEnv(const std::string &name, const std::string &value);
+
+/**
+ * @brief Get an environment variable.
+ * @param name Name of the environment variable.
+ * @return String value of the variable or an empty optional otherwise.
+ */
+std::optional<std::string>
+getEnv(const std::string &name);