diff --git a/Library/ConfigParser.cpp b/Library/ConfigParser.cpp
index 8068cd1f..afea0fde 100644
--- a/Library/ConfigParser.cpp
+++ b/Library/ConfigParser.cpp
@@ -153,10 +153,10 @@ void CConfigParser::SetVariable(std::unordered_map<std::wstring, std::wstring>&
 }
 
 /*
-** Gets a value for the variable. Returns true if variable found.
+** Gets a value for the variable. Returns NULL if not found.
 **
 */
-bool CConfigParser::GetVariable(const std::wstring& strVariable, std::wstring& strValue)
+const std::wstring* CConfigParser::GetVariable(const std::wstring& strVariable)
 {
 	const std::wstring strTmp = StrToUpper(strVariable);
 
@@ -164,31 +164,24 @@ bool CConfigParser::GetVariable(const std::wstring& strVariable, std::wstring& s
 	std::unordered_map<std::wstring, std::wstring>::const_iterator iter = m_BuiltInVariables.find(strTmp);
 	if (iter != m_BuiltInVariables.end())
 	{
-		// Built-in variable found
-		strValue = (*iter).second;
-		return true;
+		return &(*iter).second;
 	}
 
 	// #2: Monitor variables
 	iter = c_MonitorVariables.find(strTmp);
 	if (iter != c_MonitorVariables.end())
 	{
-		// SCREENAREA/WORKAREA variable found
-		strValue = (*iter).second;
-		return true;
+		return &(*iter).second;
 	}
 
 	// #3: User-defined variables
 	iter = m_Variables.find(strTmp);
 	if (iter != m_Variables.end())
 	{
-		// Variable found
-		strValue = (*iter).second;
-		return true;
+		return &(*iter).second;
 	}
 
-	// Not found
-	return false;
+	return NULL;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -577,13 +570,12 @@ bool CConfigParser::ReplaceVariables(std::wstring& result)
 				else
 				{
 					std::wstring strVariable = result.substr(si, end - si);
-					std::wstring strValue;
-
-					if (GetVariable(strVariable, strValue))
+					const std::wstring* value = GetVariable(strVariable);
+					if (value)
 					{
 						// Variable found, replace it with the value
-						result.replace(start, end - start + 1, strValue);
-						start += strValue.length();
+						result.replace(start, end - start + 1, *value);
+						start += (*value).length();
 						replaced = true;
 					}
 					else
diff --git a/Library/ConfigParser.h b/Library/ConfigParser.h
index 068e5124..ad4246c8 100644
--- a/Library/ConfigParser.h
+++ b/Library/ConfigParser.h
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ public:
 	void AddMeasure(CMeasure* pMeasure);
 	CMeasure* GetMeasure(const std::wstring& name);
 
-	bool GetVariable(const std::wstring& strVariable, std::wstring& strValue);
+	const std::wstring* GetVariable(const std::wstring& strVariable);
 	void SetVariable(const std::wstring& strVariable, const std::wstring& strValue) { SetVariable(m_Variables, strVariable, strValue); }
 	void SetBuiltInVariable(const std::wstring& strVariable, const std::wstring& strValue) { SetVariable(m_BuiltInVariables, strVariable, strValue); }
 
diff --git a/Library/Export.cpp b/Library/Export.cpp
index 3f7ca779..0ae0d5cf 100644
--- a/Library/Export.cpp
+++ b/Library/Export.cpp
@@ -178,9 +178,10 @@ LPCWSTR PluginBridge(LPCWSTR command, LPCWSTR data)
 			{
 				const std::wstring& variable = subStrings[1];
 
-				if (meterWindow->GetParser().GetVariable(variable, g_Buffer))
+				const std::wstring* value = meterWindow->GetParser().GetVariable(variable);
+				if (value)
 				{
-					return g_Buffer.c_str();
+					return (*value).c_str();
 				}
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/Library/lua/glue/LuaMeterWindow.cpp b/Library/lua/glue/LuaMeterWindow.cpp
index bf672eb7..c892a31e 100644
--- a/Library/lua/glue/LuaMeterWindow.cpp
+++ b/Library/lua/glue/LuaMeterWindow.cpp
@@ -108,9 +108,10 @@ static int GetVariable(lua_State* L)
 	CMeterWindow* self = GetSelf(L);
 	std::wstring strTmp = LuaManager::ToWide(L, 2);
 
-	if (self->GetParser().GetVariable(strTmp, strTmp))
+	const std::wstring* value = self->GetParser().GetVariable(strTmp);
+	if (value)
 	{
-		LuaManager::PushWide(L, strTmp.c_str());
+		LuaManager::PushWide(L, (*value).c_str());
 	}
 	else
 	{