diff --git a/rhodecode/config/environment.py b/rhodecode/config/environment.py
--- a/rhodecode/config/environment.py
+++ b/rhodecode/config/environment.py
@@ -125,9 +125,6 @@ def load_environment(global_conf, app_co
     repos_path = list(db_cfg.items('paths'))[0][1]
     config['base_path'] = repos_path
 
-    config['vcs.hooks.direct_calls'] = _use_direct_hook_calls(config)
-    config['vcs.hooks.protocol'] = _get_vcs_hooks_protocol(config)
-
     # store db config also in main global CONFIG
     set_rhodecode_config(config)
 
@@ -144,18 +141,6 @@ def load_environment(global_conf, app_co
     return config
 
 
-def _use_direct_hook_calls(config):
-    default_direct_hook_calls = 'false'
-    direct_hook_calls = str2bool(
-        config.get('vcs.hooks.direct_calls', default_direct_hook_calls))
-    return direct_hook_calls
-
-
-def _get_vcs_hooks_protocol(config):
-    protocol = config.get('vcs.hooks.protocol', 'pyro4').lower()
-    return protocol
-
-
 def load_pyramid_environment(global_config, settings):
     # Some parts of the code expect a merge of global and app settings.
     settings_merged = global_config.copy()
diff --git a/rhodecode/config/utils.py b/rhodecode/config/utils.py
--- a/rhodecode/config/utils.py
+++ b/rhodecode/config/utils.py
@@ -49,20 +49,18 @@ def configure_vcs(config):
     Patch VCS config with some RhodeCode specific stuff
     """
     from rhodecode.lib.vcs import conf
-    from rhodecode.lib.utils2 import aslist
     conf.settings.BACKENDS = {
         'hg': 'rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.hg.MercurialRepository',
         'git': 'rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.git.GitRepository',
         'svn': 'rhodecode.lib.vcs.backends.svn.SubversionRepository',
     }
 
-    conf.settings.GIT_REV_FILTER = shlex.split(
-        config.get('git_rev_filter', '--all').strip())
-    conf.settings.DEFAULT_ENCODINGS = aslist(config.get('default_encoding',
-                                                        'UTF-8'), sep=',')
-    conf.settings.ALIASES[:] = config.get('vcs.backends')
-    conf.settings.SVN_COMPATIBLE_VERSION = config.get(
-        'vcs.svn.compatible_version')
+    conf.settings.HOOKS_PROTOCOL = config['vcs.hooks.protocol']
+    conf.settings.HOOKS_DIRECT_CALLS = config['vcs.hooks.direct_calls']
+    conf.settings.GIT_REV_FILTER = shlex.split(config['git_rev_filter'])
+    conf.settings.DEFAULT_ENCODINGS = config['default_encoding']
+    conf.settings.ALIASES[:] = config['vcs.backends']
+    conf.settings.SVN_COMPATIBLE_VERSION = config['vcs.svn.compatible_version']
 
 
 def initialize_database(config):
@@ -88,8 +86,7 @@ def initialize_test_environment(settings
 
 
 def get_vcs_server_protocol(config):
-    protocol = config.get('vcs.server.protocol', 'pyro4')
-    return protocol
+    return config['vcs.server.protocol']
 
 
 def set_instance_id(config):