diff --git a/compose/cli/command.py b/compose/cli/command.py
index 73eccc96c..b7160deec 100644
--- a/compose/cli/command.py
+++ b/compose/cli/command.py
@@ -43,8 +43,11 @@ def get_config_path_from_options(base_dir, options, environment):
     return None
 
 
-def get_client(verbose=False, version=None, tls_config=None, host=None):
-    client = docker_client(version=version, tls_config=tls_config, host=host)
+def get_client(environment, verbose=False, version=None, tls_config=None, host=None):
+    client = docker_client(
+        version=version, tls_config=tls_config, host=host,
+        environment=environment
+    )
     if verbose:
         version_info = six.iteritems(client.version())
         log.info(get_version_info('full'))
@@ -70,7 +73,7 @@ def get_project(project_dir, config_path=None, project_name=None, verbose=False,
         API_VERSIONS[config_data.version])
     client = get_client(
         verbose=verbose, version=api_version, tls_config=tls_config,
-        host=host
+        host=host, environment=environment
     )
 
     return Project.from_config(project_name, config_data, client)
diff --git a/compose/cli/docker_client.py b/compose/cli/docker_client.py
index deb568660..f782a1ae6 100644
--- a/compose/cli/docker_client.py
+++ b/compose/cli/docker_client.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import logging
-import os
 
 from docker import Client
 from docker.errors import TLSParameterError
@@ -42,17 +41,17 @@ def tls_config_from_options(options):
         return None
 
 
-def docker_client(version=None, tls_config=None, host=None):
+def docker_client(environment, version=None, tls_config=None, host=None):
     """
     Returns a docker-py client configured using environment variables
     according to the same logic as the official Docker client.
     """
-    if 'DOCKER_CLIENT_TIMEOUT' in os.environ:
+    if 'DOCKER_CLIENT_TIMEOUT' in environment:
         log.warn("The DOCKER_CLIENT_TIMEOUT environment variable is deprecated.  "
                  "Please use COMPOSE_HTTP_TIMEOUT instead.")
 
     try:
-        kwargs = kwargs_from_env(assert_hostname=False)
+        kwargs = kwargs_from_env(assert_hostname=False, environment=environment)
     except TLSParameterError:
         raise UserError(
             "TLS configuration is invalid - make sure your DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY "
@@ -67,6 +66,10 @@ def docker_client(version=None, tls_config=None, host=None):
     if version:
         kwargs['version'] = version
 
-    kwargs['timeout'] = HTTP_TIMEOUT
+    timeout = environment.get('COMPOSE_HTTP_TIMEOUT')
+    if timeout:
+        kwargs['timeout'] = int(timeout)
+    else:
+        kwargs['timeout'] = HTTP_TIMEOUT
 
     return Client(**kwargs)
diff --git a/compose/const.py b/compose/const.py
index db5e2fb4f..9e00d96e9 100644
--- a/compose/const.py
+++ b/compose/const.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import os
 import sys
 
 DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 10
-HTTP_TIMEOUT = int(os.environ.get('COMPOSE_HTTP_TIMEOUT', os.environ.get('DOCKER_CLIENT_TIMEOUT', 60)))
+HTTP_TIMEOUT = int(os.environ.get('DOCKER_CLIENT_TIMEOUT', 60))
 IMAGE_EVENTS = ['delete', 'import', 'pull', 'push', 'tag', 'untag']
 IS_WINDOWS_PLATFORM = (sys.platform == "win32")
 LABEL_CONTAINER_NUMBER = 'com.docker.compose.container-number'
diff --git a/docs/env-file.md b/docs/env-file.md
index 6d12d228c..a285a7908 100644
--- a/docs/env-file.md
+++ b/docs/env-file.md
@@ -28,9 +28,13 @@ Those environment variables will be used for
 file, but can also be used to define the following
 [CLI variables](reference/envvars.md):
 
-- `COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME`
-- `COMPOSE_FILE`
 - `COMPOSE_API_VERSION`
+- `COMPOSE_FILE`
+- `COMPOSE_HTTP_TIMEOUT`
+- `COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME`
+- `DOCKER_CERT_PATH`
+- `DOCKER_HOST`
+- `DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY`
 
 ## More Compose documentation
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/testcases.py b/tests/integration/testcases.py
index 98e0540f1..e8b2f35dc 100644
--- a/tests/integration/testcases.py
+++ b/tests/integration/testcases.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class DockerClientTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         else:
             version = API_VERSIONS[V2_0]
 
-        cls.client = docker_client(version)
+        cls.client = docker_client(Environment(), version)
 
     def tearDown(self):
         for c in self.client.containers(
diff --git a/tests/unit/cli/docker_client_test.py b/tests/unit/cli/docker_client_test.py
index b55f1d179..56bab19c3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/cli/docker_client_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit/cli/docker_client_test.py
@@ -17,12 +17,12 @@ class DockerClientTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_docker_client_no_home(self):
         with mock.patch.dict(os.environ):
             del os.environ['HOME']
-            docker_client()
+            docker_client(os.environ)
 
     def test_docker_client_with_custom_timeout(self):
         timeout = 300
         with mock.patch('compose.cli.docker_client.HTTP_TIMEOUT', 300):
-            client = docker_client()
+            client = docker_client(os.environ)
             self.assertEqual(client.timeout, int(timeout))