diff --git a/examples/jdbc/yaks-config.yaml b/examples/jdbc/yaks-config.yaml
index ff3946ea..0958b38c 100644
--- a/examples/jdbc/yaks-config.yaml
+++ b/examples/jdbc/yaks-config.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 config:
   runtime:
+    env:
+      - name: CITRUS_DEFAULT_MESSAGE_TYPE
+        value: PLAINTEXT
     settings:
       dependencies:
         - groupId: org.postgresql
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/config/config.go b/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
index 50687510..81a6f677 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/config/config.go
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ type StepConfig struct {
 type RuntimeConfig struct {
 	Cucumber CucumberConfig
 	Settings SettingsConfig
+	Env 	 []EnvConfig
 }
 
 type CucumberConfig struct {
@@ -54,6 +55,11 @@ type CucumberConfig struct {
 	Options string   `yaml:"options"`
 }
 
+type EnvConfig struct {
+	Name  string `yaml:"name"`
+	Value string `yaml:"value"`
+}
+
 type SettingsConfig struct {
 	Repositories []RepositoryConfig
 	Dependencies []DependencyConfig
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/test.go b/pkg/cmd/test.go
index 0b675db3..c7e0a4b8 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/test.go
@@ -465,6 +465,10 @@ func (o *testCmdOptions) setupEnvSettings(test *v1alpha1.Test, runConfig *config
 		env = append(env, DependenciesEnv+"="+strings.Join(o.dependencies, ","))
 	}
 
+	for _, envConfig := range runConfig.Config.Runtime.Env {
+		env = append(env, envConfig.Name+"="+envConfig.Value)
+	}
+
 	if o.env != nil {
 		copy(env, o.env)
 	}