diff --git a/libs/openFrameworks/utils/ofUtils.cpp b/libs/openFrameworks/utils/ofUtils.cpp
index 3ac370dca96..d9f1c91261b 100644
--- a/libs/openFrameworks/utils/ofUtils.cpp
+++ b/libs/openFrameworks/utils/ofUtils.cpp
@@ -1102,7 +1102,7 @@ ofTargetPlatform ofGetTargetPlatform(){
 #endif
 }
 
-std::string ofGetEnv(const std::string & var){
+std::string ofGetEnv(const std::string & var, const std::string defaultValue){
 #ifdef TARGET_WIN32
 	const size_t BUFSIZE = 4096;
 	std::vector<char> pszOldVal(BUFSIZE, 0);
@@ -1110,14 +1110,14 @@ std::string ofGetEnv(const std::string & var){
 	if(size>0){
 		return std::string(pszOldVal.begin(), pszOldVal.begin()+size);
 	}else{
-		return "";
+		return defaultValue;
 	}
 #else
 	auto value = getenv(var.c_str());
 	if(value){
 		return value;
 	}else{
-		return "";
+		return defaultValue;
 	}
 #endif
 }
diff --git a/libs/openFrameworks/utils/ofUtils.h b/libs/openFrameworks/utils/ofUtils.h
index 42074590ab4..efce1e5032c 100644
--- a/libs/openFrameworks/utils/ofUtils.h
+++ b/libs/openFrameworks/utils/ofUtils.h
@@ -1071,8 +1071,10 @@ ofTargetPlatform ofGetTargetPlatform();
 /// \brief Get the value of a given environment variable.
 ///
 /// \note The available environment variables differ between operating systems.
-/// \returns the environmnt variable's value or an empty string if not found.
-std::string ofGetEnv(const std::string & var);
+/// \param var the environment variable name.
+/// \param defaultValue the value to return if the environment variable is not set. defaults to empty string.
+/// \returns the environmnt variable's value or the provided default value if not found.
+std::string ofGetEnv(const std::string & var, const std::string defaultValue = "");
 
 /// \brief Iterate through each Unicode codepoint in a UTF8-encoded std::string.
 ///
diff --git a/tests/utils/utils/addons.make b/tests/utils/utils/addons.make
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0e0303d2e09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/utils/utils/addons.make
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ofxUnitTests
diff --git a/tests/utils/utils/src/main.cpp b/tests/utils/utils/src/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a8f2fbd9fee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/utils/utils/src/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#include "utils/ofUtils.h"
+#include "ofxUnitTests.h"
+
+
+class ofApp: public ofxUnitTestsApp{
+	void run(){
+		ofLogNotice() << "testing utils/ofUtils";
+		ofLogNotice() << "testing ofGetEnv() on unset environment variable";
+		ofxTest(ofGetEnv("DUMMY")=="", "it should return an empty string when called with no default value.");
+		ofxTest(ofGetEnv("DUMMY","default")=="default", "it should return the deefault when it is provided.");
+		ofLogNotice() << "testing ofGetEnv() on set environment variable (PATH)";
+		ofxTest(ofGetEnv("PATH")!="", "it should return a (non empty) string when called with no default value.");
+		ofxTest(ofGetEnv("DUMMY","default")!="", "it should return a (non empty) string when a default value is provided.");
+		ofxTest(ofGetEnv("DUMMY","default")!="defautl", "it should not return the default value.");
+	}
+};
+
+
+#include "app/ofAppNoWindow.h"
+#include "app/ofAppRunner.h"
+//========================================================================
+int main( ){
+    ofInit();
+	auto window = std::make_shared<ofAppNoWindow>();
+	auto app = std::make_shared<ofApp>();
+	ofRunApp(window, app);
+	return ofRunMainLoop();
+}