diff --git a/include/caosdb/utility.h b/include/caosdb/utility.h
index 0cadf664346b31f7de19134eed02d13ff148269d..8b69bc271c53a145226c8951916562e543a82dd1 100644
--- a/include/caosdb/utility.h
+++ b/include/caosdb/utility.h
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ inline auto load_string_file(const path &path) -> std::string {
 /**
  * @brief Return the environment variable KEY, or FALLBACK if it does not exist.
  */
-inline auto get_env_var(const char *key, const char *fallback) -> const char * {
+inline auto get_env_fallback(const char *key, const char *fallback) -> const char * {
   const char *val = getenv(key);
   if (val == nullptr) {
     return fallback;
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ inline auto get_env_var(const char *key, const char *fallback) -> const char * {
  * @brief Return the value of an environment variable or - if undefined - the
  * fallback value.
  */
-inline auto get_env_var(const std::string &key, const std::string &fallback) -> const std::string {
-  const char *val = get_env_var(key.c_str(), fallback.c_str());
+inline auto get_env_fallback(const std::string &key, const std::string &fallback) -> const std::string {
+  const char *val = get_env_fallback(key.c_str(), fallback.c_str());
 
   auto const result = std::string(val);
   return result;
diff --git a/include/ccaosdb.h b/include/ccaosdb.h
index b06f3ec388d14a2b15b362babd99e3207a7353ef..e643e0d4fa048495036341ae18556ce8ebf557b7 100644
--- a/include/ccaosdb.h
+++ b/include/ccaosdb.h
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ typedef struct {
  *
  * If the environment variable is not set, return the fallback instead.
  */
-const char *caosdb_utility_get_env_var(const char *name, const char *fallback);
+const char *caosdb_utility_get_env_fallback(const char *name, const char *fallback);
 
 /**
  * Return a description of the status code.
diff --git a/src/caosdb/entity.cpp b/src/caosdb/entity.cpp
index fa96ba88ed0d71e153b2d5f9e1e4b08831ec6dae..017aac5ca6ab28d6773c16ca7dc9662e5990c2d4 100644
--- a/src/caosdb/entity.cpp
+++ b/src/caosdb/entity.cpp
@@ -272,7 +272,8 @@ auto Entity::FixValue() -> void { FixValueImpl(this); }
 
 // Utility functions //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-template <typename E> auto FixValueImpl(E *ent) -> void {
+// TODO(daniel) cognitive complexity is too high
+template <typename E> auto FixValueImpl(E *ent) -> void { //NOLINT
   const auto &dtype = ent->GetDataType();
   const auto &value = ent->GetValue();
   auto new_value = Value();
diff --git a/src/ccaosdb.cpp b/src/ccaosdb.cpp
index d5165c98e64b7084a395a710a5bd1b98019f9edb..bd2cbf662ee2fd88369f5d52ae08160ff9f175af 100644
--- a/src/ccaosdb.cpp
+++ b/src/ccaosdb.cpp
@@ -170,8 +170,8 @@ const char *caosdb_constants_COMPATIBLE_SERVER_VERSION_PRE_RELEASE() {
 
 int caosdb_status_code_OTHER_CLIENT_ERROR() { return caosdb::StatusCode::OTHER_CLIENT_ERROR; }
 
-const char *caosdb_utility_get_env_var(const char *name, const char *fallback) {
-  return caosdb::utility::get_env_var(name, fallback);
+const char *caosdb_utility_get_env_fallback(const char *name, const char *fallback) {
+  return caosdb::utility::get_env_fallback(name, fallback);
 }
 
 const char *caosdb_get_status_description(int code) {
diff --git a/test/test_ccaosdb.cpp b/test/test_ccaosdb.cpp
index fe9142862b1b4da10f23db06a2a20abe529ae35a..475a5d1a96cb89a3b10ea9e29b0d3e6ab80a6b5d 100644
--- a/test/test_ccaosdb.cpp
+++ b/test/test_ccaosdb.cpp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 #include "caosdb/configuration.h"
 #include "caosdb/status_code.h"    // for StatusCode
 #include "caosdb_test_utility.h"   // for EXPECT_THROW_MESSAGE, TEST_DATA_DIR
-#include "ccaosdb.h"               // for caosdb_utility_get_env_var
+#include "ccaosdb.h"               // for caosdb_utility_get_env_fallback
 #include <cstring>                 // for strcmp
 #include <gtest/gtest-message.h>   // for Message
 #include <gtest/gtest-test-part.h> // for SuiteApiResolver, TestFactoryImpl
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ protected:
   void TearDown() override { caosdb::configuration::ConfigurationManager::Clear(); }
 };
 
-TEST_F(test_ccaosdb, test_get_env_var) {
-  const char *const some_var = caosdb_utility_get_env_var("SOME_ENV_VAR", "fall-back");
+TEST_F(test_ccaosdb, test_get_env_fallback) {
+  const char *const some_var = caosdb_utility_get_env_fallback("SOME_ENV_VAR", "fall-back");
   EXPECT_EQ("fall-back", some_var);
 }