diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
index 58b6a0d92..d57e0d19a 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Config.pm
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ our %EXPORT_TAGS = ( internal => [ qw( create_temp_script
 				       $debug
 				       %config
 				       %globals
+				       %params
 
 		                       F_IPV4
 		                       F_IPV6
@@ -132,7 +133,7 @@ our %EXPORT_TAGS = ( internal => [ qw( create_temp_script
 
 Exporter::export_ok_tags('internal');
 
-our $VERSION = '4.4_14';
+our $VERSION = '4.4_15';
 
 #
 # describe the current command, it's present progressive, and it's completion.
@@ -268,6 +269,10 @@ our @includestack;
 # Allow nested opens
 #
 our @openstack;
+#
+# From the params file
+#
+our %params;
 
 our $currentline;             # Current config file line image
 our $currentfile;             # File handle reference
@@ -704,6 +709,8 @@ sub initialize( $ ) {
     $shorewall_dir = '';      #Shorewall Directory
 
     $debug = 0;
+
+    %params = ();
 }
 
 INIT {
@@ -1851,14 +1858,15 @@ sub read_a_line(;$) {
 
 	    my $count = 0;
 	    #
-	    # Expand Shell Variables using %ENV
+	    # Expand Shell Variables using %params
 	    #
 	    #                            $1      $2      $3           -     $4
 	    while ( $currentline =~ m( ^(.*?) \$({)? ([a-zA-Z]\w*) (?(2)}) (.*)$ )x ) {
-		my $val = $ENV{$3};
+		my $val = $params{$3};
 
 		unless ( defined $val ) {
-		    fatal_error "Undefined shell variable (\$$3)" unless exists $ENV{$3};
+		    $params{$3} = $ENV{$3} if $ENV{$3};
+		    fatal_error "Undefined shell variable (\$$3)" unless exists $params{$3};
 		    $val = '';
 		}
 
@@ -2869,6 +2877,29 @@ sub unsupported_yes_no_warning( $ ) {
     warning_message "$option=Yes is not supported by Shorewall $globals{VERSION}" if $config{$option};
 }
 
+#
+# Process the params file
+#
+sub get_params() {
+    my $fn = find_file 'params';
+
+    if ( $fn ) {
+	progress_message1 "Processing $fn ...";
+
+	my @params = `$globals{SHAREDIRPL}/getparams $fn`;
+
+	fatal_error "Processing of $fn failed" if $?;
+
+	for ( @params ) {
+	    if ( /^(?:(.*?)=)(.*)$/ ) {
+		$params{$1} = $2 unless $1 eq '_';
+	    } else {
+		assert(0);
+	    }
+	} 
+    }
+}
+
 #
 # - Read the shorewall.conf file
 # - Read the capabilities file, if any
@@ -2886,6 +2917,8 @@ sub get_configuration( $ ) {
 
     ensure_config_path;
 
+    get_params;
+
     process_shorewall_conf;
 
     ensure_config_path;
diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Zones.pm b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Zones.pm
index f186125da..741f8c83f 100644
--- a/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Zones.pm
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/Shorewall/Zones.pm
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ our @EXPORT = qw( NOTHING
 		 );
 
 our @EXPORT_OK = qw( initialize );
-our $VERSION = '4.4_14';
+our $VERSION = '4.4_15';
 
 #
 # IPSEC Option types
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ sub process_zone( \$ ) {
 	fatal_error 'Firewall zone may not be nested' if @parents;
 	fatal_error "Only one firewall zone may be defined ($zone)" if $firewall_zone;
 	$firewall_zone = $zone;
-	$ENV{FW} = $zone;
+	$params{FW} = $zone;
 	$type = FIREWALL;
     } elsif ( $type eq 'vserver' ) {
 	fatal_error 'Vserver zones may not be nested' if @parents;
diff --git a/Shorewall/Perl/getparams b/Shorewall/Perl/getparams
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..d719f92e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Shorewall/Perl/getparams
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+#     The Shoreline Firewall Packet Filtering Firewall Param File Helper - V4.4
+#
+#     This program is under GPL [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.txt]
+#
+#     (c) 2010 - Tom Eastep (teastep@shorewall.net)
+#
+#	Complete documentation is available at http://shorewall.net
+#
+#	This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#	it under the terms of Version 2 of the GNU General Public License
+#	as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+#
+#	This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#	but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#	MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+#	GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#	along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+#	Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+
+exported=$(env | sed 's/=.*//');
+
+#
+# Sigh -- POSIX shells don't support 'typeset' or 'declare'
+#
+
+for v in $exported; do
+    eval t=\"\$$v\"
+    eval $v=
+    eval $v=\"$t\"
+done
+
+set -a
+
+. $1
+
+set +a
+
+env
diff --git a/Shorewall/install.sh b/Shorewall/install.sh
index f083e364f..fa697e768 100755
--- a/Shorewall/install.sh
+++ b/Shorewall/install.sh
@@ -816,6 +816,13 @@ install_file compiler.pl ${DESTDIR}/usr/share/shorewall/compiler.pl 0755
 echo
 echo "Compiler installed in ${DESTDIR}/usr/share/shorewall/compiler.pl"
 #
+# Install the params file helper
+#
+install_file getparams ${DESTDIR}/usr/share/shorewall/getparams 0755
+
+echo
+echo "Params file helper installed in ${DESTDIR}/usr/share/shorewall/getparams"
+#
 # Install the libraries
 #
 for f in Shorewall/*.pm ; do
diff --git a/Shorewall/shorewall b/Shorewall/shorewall
index a48615b40..b16100328 100755
--- a/Shorewall/shorewall
+++ b/Shorewall/shorewall
@@ -353,12 +353,6 @@ compiler() {
     [ -n "$g_preview" ] && options="$options --preview"
     [ "$g_debugging" = trace ] && options="$options --debug"
     [ -n "$g_refreshchains" ] && options="$options --refresh=$g_refreshchains"
-    #
-    # Run the appropriate params file
-    #
-    set -a;
-    run_user_exit params
-    set +a
 
     if [ -n "$PERL" ]; then
 	if [ ! -x "$PERL" ]; then
diff --git a/Shorewall/shorewall.spec b/Shorewall/shorewall.spec
index da4780c15..a0b9c2d9e 100644
--- a/Shorewall/shorewall.spec
+++ b/Shorewall/shorewall.spec
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ fi
 %attr(0755,root,root) /usr/share/shorewall/wait4ifup
 
 %attr(755,root,root) /usr/share/shorewall/compiler.pl
+%attr(755,root,root) /usr/share/shorewall/params
 %attr(0644,root,root) /usr/share/shorewall/prog.*
 %attr(0644,root,root) /usr/share/shorewall/Shorewall/*.pm
 
diff --git a/Shorewall6/shorewall6 b/Shorewall6/shorewall6
index d64c07a5c..001353e8f 100755
--- a/Shorewall6/shorewall6
+++ b/Shorewall6/shorewall6
@@ -290,14 +290,6 @@ compiler() {
     [ "$g_debugging" = trace ] && options="$options --debug"
     [ -n "$g_refreshchains" ] && options="$options --refresh=$g_refreshchains"
     [ -x $pc ] || startup_error "Shorewall6 requires the shorewall package which is not installed"
-    #
-    # Run the appropriate params file
-    #
-    if [ -z "$haveparams" ]; then
-	set -a; 
-	run_user_exit params
-	set +a
-    fi
 
     if [ -n "$PERL" ]; then
 	if [ ! -x "$PERL" ]; then