diff --git a/bob/devtools/__init__.py b/bob/devtools/__init__.py
index e69de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391..790e3b4aa9f4e47c3b7d1508204a70301cab9b8e 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/__init__.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+'''Environment variable initialization'''
+
+import os
+from .constants import CACERT
+from .bootstrap import set_environment
+
+
+# must set LANG and LC_ALL before using click
+set_environment('LANG', 'en_US.UTF-8', os.environ)
+set_environment('LC_ALL', os.environ['LANG'], os.environ)
+
+# we need the right certificates setup as well
+set_environment('SSL_CERT_FILE', CACERT, os.environ)
+set_environment('REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE', CACERT, os.environ)
diff --git a/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py b/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
index 7b3d69559ec368795430220d310628cc709beba6..5e332f59f038d2b6f8d9bbe2478eb539e9ee989e 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
@@ -74,14 +74,12 @@ def set_environment(name, value, env=os.environ, verbose=False):
       verbose: Increases the verbosity of variable reporting
     '''
 
-    if name in env:
-      logger.warn('Overriding existing environment variable ${%s} (was: "%s")',
-          name, env[name])
     env[name] = value
     logat = logger.debug
     if verbose:
       logat = logger.info
     logat('environ["%s"] = %s', name, value)
+    return value
 
 
 def human_time(seconds, granularity=2):
diff --git a/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py b/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
index 92d3af40f2de8e752e5a5ed6982cec9948347255..7a26b97ccee63e36a919522953ecb29d3124b415 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/scripts/bdt.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import click
 from click_plugins import with_plugins
 
 from ..log import setup
-from ..bootstrap import set_environment
 logger = setup('bob')
 
 
@@ -49,19 +48,9 @@ def raise_on_error(view_func):
     return wraps(view_func)(_decorator)
 
 
-# must set LANG and LC_ALL before using click
-set_environment('LANG', 'en_US.UTF-8', os.environ, verbose=False)
-set_environment('LC_ALL', os.environ['LANG'], os.environ, verbose=False)
-
-
 @with_plugins(pkg_resources.iter_entry_points('bdt.cli'))
 @click.group(cls=AliasedGroup,
              context_settings=dict(help_option_names=['-?', '-h', '--help']))
 def main():
     """Bob Development Tools - see available commands below"""
-
-    #sets up basic environment variables required everywhere
-    from ..constants import CACERT
-
-    set_environment('SSL_CERT_FILE', CACERT, os.environ)
-    set_environment('REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE', CACERT, os.environ)
+    pass