diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/DetectionUtil.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/DetectionUtil.java
index 47199904f4..0717d4b39f 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/DetectionUtil.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/DetectionUtil.java
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public final class DetectionUtil {
     private static final boolean IS_ROOT;
 
     static {
-        String os = System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase();
+        String os = SystemPropertyUtil.get("os.name").toLowerCase();
         // windows
         IS_WINDOWS = os.contains("win");
 
@@ -104,17 +104,20 @@ public final class DetectionUtil {
     }
 
     private static boolean hasUnsafe(ClassLoader loader) {
-        String value = SystemPropertyUtil.get("io.netty.noUnsafe");
-        if (value != null) {
+        boolean noUnsafe = SystemPropertyUtil.getBoolean("io.netty.noUnsafe", false);
+        if (noUnsafe) {
             return false;
         }
 
         // Legacy properties
-        value = SystemPropertyUtil.get("io.netty.tryUnsafe");
-        if (value == null) {
-            value = SystemPropertyUtil.get("org.jboss.netty.tryUnsafe", "true");
+        boolean tryUnsafe = false;
+        if (SystemPropertyUtil.contains("io.netty.tryUnsafe")) {
+            tryUnsafe = SystemPropertyUtil.getBoolean("io.netty.tryUnsafe", true);
+        } else {
+            tryUnsafe = SystemPropertyUtil.getBoolean("org.jboss.netty.tryUnsafe", true);
         }
-        if (!"true".equalsIgnoreCase(value)) {
+
+        if (!tryUnsafe) {
             return false;
         }
 
@@ -124,6 +127,7 @@ public final class DetectionUtil {
         } catch (Exception e) {
             // Ignore
         }
+
         return false;
     }
 
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/SystemPropertyUtil.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/SystemPropertyUtil.java
index 977e28918e..4614401a96 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/SystemPropertyUtil.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/SystemPropertyUtil.java
@@ -15,27 +15,56 @@
  */
 package io.netty.util.internal;
 
-import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+import io.netty.logging.InternalLogger;
+import io.netty.logging.InternalLoggerFactory;
+
+import java.util.Properties;
 
 /**
- * Accesses the system property swallowing a {@link SecurityException}.
+ * A collection of utility methods to retrieve and parse the values of the Java system properties.
  */
-final class SystemPropertyUtil {
+public final class SystemPropertyUtil {
+
+    private static final InternalLogger logger =
+            InternalLoggerFactory.getInstance(SystemPropertyUtil.class);
+
+    private static final Properties props;
+
+    // Retrieve all system properties at once so that there's no need to deal with
+    // security exceptions from next time.  Otherwise, we might end up with logging every
+    // security exceptions on every system property access or introducing more complexity
+    // just because of less verbose logging.
+    static {
+        Properties newProps = null;
+        try {
+            newProps = System.getProperties();
+        } catch (SecurityException e) {
+            logger.warn("Unable to access the system properties; default values will be used.", e);
+            newProps = new Properties();
+        }
+
+        props = newProps;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns {@code true} if and only if the system property with the specified {@code key}
+     * exists.
+     */
+    public static boolean contains(String key) {
+        if (key == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("key");
+        }
+        return props.containsKey(key);
+    }
 
     /**
      * Returns the value of the Java system property with the specified
-     * {@code key}.
+     * {@code key}, while falling back to {@code null} if the property access fails.
      *
-     * @return the property value.
-     *         {@code null} if there's no such property or if an access to the
-     *         specified property is not allowed.
+     * @return the property value or {@code null}
      */
     public static String get(String key) {
-        try {
-            return System.getProperty(key);
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            return null;
-        }
+        return get(key, null);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -48,10 +77,15 @@ final class SystemPropertyUtil {
      *         specified property is not allowed.
      */
     public static String get(String key, String def) {
-        String value = get(key);
-        if (value == null) {
-            value = def;
+        if (key == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("key");
         }
+
+        String value = props.getProperty(key);
+        if (value == null) {
+            return def;
+        }
+
         return value;
     }
 
@@ -64,17 +98,104 @@ final class SystemPropertyUtil {
      *         {@code def} if there's no such property or if an access to the
      *         specified property is not allowed.
      */
-    public static int get(String key, int def) {
-        String value = get(key);
+    public static boolean getBoolean(String key, boolean def) {
+        if (key == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("key");
+        }
+
+        String value = props.getProperty(key);
         if (value == null) {
             return def;
         }
 
-        if (Pattern.matches("-?[0-9]+", value)) {
-            return Integer.parseInt(value);
-        } else {
+        value = value.trim().toLowerCase();
+        if (value.length() == 0) {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        if (value.equals("true") || value.equals("yes") || value.equals("1")) {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        if (value.equals("false") || value.equals("no") || value.equals("0")) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        logger.warn(
+                "Unable to parse the boolean system property '" + key + "':" + value + " - " +
+                "using the default value: " + def);
+
+        return def;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the value of the Java system property with the specified
+     * {@code key}, while falling back to the specified default value if
+     * the property access fails.
+     *
+     * @return the property value.
+     *         {@code def} if there's no such property or if an access to the
+     *         specified property is not allowed.
+     */
+    public static int getInt(String key, int def) {
+        if (key == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("key");
+        }
+
+        String value = props.getProperty(key);
+        if (value == null) {
             return def;
         }
+
+        value = value.trim().toLowerCase();
+        if (value.matches("-?[0-9]+")) {
+            try {
+                return Integer.parseInt(value);
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                // Ignore
+            }
+        }
+
+        logger.warn(
+                "Unable to parse the integer system property '" + key + "':" + value + " - " +
+                "using the default value: " + def);
+
+        return def;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the value of the Java system property with the specified
+     * {@code key}, while falling back to the specified default value if
+     * the property access fails.
+     *
+     * @return the property value.
+     *         {@code def} if there's no such property or if an access to the
+     *         specified property is not allowed.
+     */
+    public static long getLong(String key, long def) {
+        if (key == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("key");
+        }
+
+        String value = props.getProperty(key);
+        if (value == null) {
+            return def;
+        }
+
+        value = value.trim().toLowerCase();
+        if (value.matches("-?[0-9]+")) {
+            try {
+                return Long.parseLong(value);
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                // Ignore
+            }
+        }
+
+        logger.warn(
+                "Unable to parse the long integer system property '" + key + "':" + value + " - " +
+                "using the default value: " + def);
+
+        return def;
     }
 
     private SystemPropertyUtil() {
diff --git a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/SelectorUtil.java b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/SelectorUtil.java
index b22bbba492..feb4b167b3 100644
--- a/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/SelectorUtil.java
+++ b/transport/src/main/java/io/netty/channel/socket/nio/SelectorUtil.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package io.netty.channel.socket.nio;
 
 import io.netty.logging.InternalLogger;
 import io.netty.logging.InternalLoggerFactory;
+import io.netty.util.internal.SystemPropertyUtil;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.channels.CancelledKeyException;
@@ -27,8 +28,9 @@ final class SelectorUtil {
     private static final InternalLogger logger =
         InternalLoggerFactory.getInstance(SelectorUtil.class);
     static final long DEFAULT_SELECT_TIMEOUT = 10;
-    static final long SELECT_TIMEOUT;
-    static final long SELECT_TIMEOUT_NANOS;
+    static final long SELECT_TIMEOUT =
+            SystemPropertyUtil.getLong("io.netty.selectTimeout", DEFAULT_SELECT_TIMEOUT);
+    static final long SELECT_TIMEOUT_NANOS = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(SELECT_TIMEOUT);
 
     // Workaround for JDK NIO bug.
     //
@@ -47,15 +49,7 @@ final class SelectorUtil {
                 logger.debug("Unable to get/set System Property '" + key + "'", e);
             }
         }
-        long selectTimeout;
-        try {
-            selectTimeout = Long.parseLong(System.getProperty("io.netty.selectTimeout",
-                    String.valueOf(DEFAULT_SELECT_TIMEOUT)));
-        } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
-            selectTimeout = DEFAULT_SELECT_TIMEOUT;
-        }
-        SELECT_TIMEOUT = selectTimeout;
-        SELECT_TIMEOUT_NANOS = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(SELECT_TIMEOUT);
+
         logger.debug("Using select timeout of " + SELECT_TIMEOUT);
     }