diff --git a/gluon/globals.py b/gluon/globals.py
index 1c75c159..96ec6225 100644
--- a/gluon/globals.py
+++ b/gluon/globals.py
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ class Request(Storage):
     def parse_get_vars(self):
         """Takes the QUERY_STRING and unpacks it to get_vars
         """
-        query_string = self.env.get('QUERY_STRING', '')
+        query_string = self.env.get('query_string', '')
         dget = urlparse.parse_qs(query_string, keep_blank_values=1)  # Ref: https://docs.python.org/2/library/cgi.html#cgi.parse_qs
         get_vars = self._get_vars = Storage(dget)
         for (key, value) in get_vars.iteritems():