diff --git a/App/Config/app.php b/App/Config/app.php
index 7e078d804ed..0c90abc90d1 100644
--- a/App/Config/app.php
+++ b/App/Config/app.php
@@ -110,3 +110,25 @@
 	$loader = new ClassLoader($namespace, dirname(APP));
 	$loader->register();
 	unset($loader, $namespace);
+
+/**
+ * Define the FULL_BASE_URL used for link generation.
+ * In most cases the code below will generate the correct hostname.
+ * However, you can manually define the hostname to resolve any issues.
+ */
+$s = null;
+if (env('HTTPS')) {
+	$s = 's';
+}
+
+$httpHost = env('HTTP_HOST');
+if (isset($httpHost)) {
+	define('FULL_BASE_URL', 'http' . $s . '://' . $httpHost);
+}
+unset($httpHost, $s);
+
+/**
+ * Configure the mbstring extension to use the correct encoding.
+ */
+$encoding = Configure::read('App.encoding');
+mb_internal_encoding($encoding);
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Console/Templates/skel/Config/app.php b/lib/Cake/Console/Templates/skel/Config/app.php
index cc05bbf0186..0c90abc90d1 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Console/Templates/skel/Config/app.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Console/Templates/skel/Config/app.php
@@ -80,9 +80,10 @@
  * - cipherSeed - A random numeric string (digits only) used to seed 
  *   the xor cipher functions in Security.
  */
-	Configure::write('Security.salt', 'DYhG93b0qyJfIxfs2guVoUubWwvniR2G0FgaC9mi');
-
-	Configure::write('Security.cipherSeed', '76859309657453542496749683645');
+	Configure::write('Security', [
+		'salt' => 'DYhG93b0qyJfIxfs2guVoUubWwvniR2G0FgaC9mi',
+		'cipherSeed' => '76859309657453542496749683645',
+	]);
 
 /**
  * Apply timestamps with the last modified time to static assets (js, css, images).
@@ -109,3 +110,25 @@
 	$loader = new ClassLoader($namespace, dirname(APP));
 	$loader->register();
 	unset($loader, $namespace);
+
+/**
+ * Define the FULL_BASE_URL used for link generation.
+ * In most cases the code below will generate the correct hostname.
+ * However, you can manually define the hostname to resolve any issues.
+ */
+$s = null;
+if (env('HTTPS')) {
+	$s = 's';
+}
+
+$httpHost = env('HTTP_HOST');
+if (isset($httpHost)) {
+	define('FULL_BASE_URL', 'http' . $s . '://' . $httpHost);
+}
+unset($httpHost, $s);
+
+/**
+ * Configure the mbstring extension to use the correct encoding.
+ */
+$encoding = Configure::read('App.encoding');
+mb_internal_encoding($encoding);
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Routing/Router.php b/lib/Cake/Routing/Router.php
index 805e2b10479..d7174046007 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Routing/Router.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Routing/Router.php
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ public static function parse($url) {
 			static::_loadRoutes();
 		}
 
-		if ($url && strpos($url, '/') !== 0) {
+		if (strlen($url) && strpos($url, '/') !== 0) {
 			$url = '/' . $url;
 		}
 		if (strpos($url, '?') !== false) {
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/Routing/RouterTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/Routing/RouterTest.php
index 335ed42ad23..eaa224d4f89 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/Routing/RouterTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/Routing/RouterTest.php
@@ -399,12 +399,12 @@ public function testUrlCatchAllRoute() {
 		$result = Router::url(array('controller' => 'categories', 'action' => 'index', '0'));
 		$this->assertEquals('/0', $result);
 
-		$expected = array(
+		$expected = [
 			'plugin' => null,
 			'controller' => 'categories',
 			'action' => 'index',
-			'pass' => array('0'),
-		);
+			'pass' => ['0'],
+		];
 		$result = Router::parse('/0');
 		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
 
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/View/Helper/FormHelperTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/View/Helper/FormHelperTest.php
index 8a301cba8cc..91597ec3601 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/View/Helper/FormHelperTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/TestCase/View/Helper/FormHelperTest.php
@@ -2750,7 +2750,7 @@ public function testInputMagicSelectForTypeNumber() {
 			'label' => array('for' => 'ValidateUserBalance'),
 			'Balance',
 			'/label',
-			'select' => array('name' => 'data[ValidateUser][balance]', 'id' => 'ValidateUserBalance'),
+			'select' => array('name' => 'ValidateUser[balance]', 'id' => 'ValidateUserBalance'),
 			array('option' => array('value' => '0')),
 			'nothing',
 			'/option',
@@ -7177,7 +7177,7 @@ public function testFormInputRequiredDetection() {
 			'Iamrequiredalways',
 			'/label',
 			'input' => array(
-				'type' => 'text', 'name' => 'data[Contact][iamrequiredalways]',
+				'type' => 'text', 'name' => 'Contact[iamrequiredalways]',
 				'id' => 'ContactIamrequiredalways'
 			),
 			'/div'
diff --git a/lib/Cake/bootstrap.php b/lib/Cake/bootstrap.php
index 3b371c5b8cf..2a64b5e4a23 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/bootstrap.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/bootstrap.php
@@ -26,30 +26,7 @@
 $loader->register();
 
 use Cake\Core\App;
+use Cake\Core\Configure;
 
 App::init();
 App::build();
-
-/**
- * Full url prefix
- */
-if (!defined('FULL_BASE_URL')) {
-	$s = null;
-	if (env('HTTPS')) {
-		$s = 's';
-	}
-
-	$httpHost = env('HTTP_HOST');
-
-	if (isset($httpHost)) {
-		define('FULL_BASE_URL', 'http' . $s . '://' . $httpHost);
-	}
-	unset($httpHost, $s);
-}
-
-spl_autoload_register(array('App', 'load'));
-
-$encoding = Configure::read('App.encoding');
-if (!empty($encoding)) {
-	mb_internal_encoding($encoding);
-}