diff --git a/system/core/Common.php b/system/core/Common.php
index 8af7d63..5e3b826 100644
--- a/system/core/Common.php
+++ b/system/core/Common.php
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@
 
 		$file_path = APPPATH.'config/config.php';
 		$found = FALSE;
-		if (file_exists($file_path)) 
+		if (file_exists($file_path))
 		{
 			$found = TRUE;
 			require($file_path);
@@ -242,9 +242,9 @@
 		// Is the config file in the environment folder?
 		if (defined(ENVIRONMENT) && file_exists($file_path = APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/config.php'))
 		{
-			require($file_path);			
-		} 
-		elseif ( ! $found) 
+			require($file_path);
+		}
+		elseif ( ! $found)
 		{
 			set_status_header(503);
 			exit('The configuration file does not exist.');
@@ -304,6 +304,32 @@
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+if ( ! function_exists('get_mimes'))
+{
+	/**
+	 * Returns the MIME types array from config/mimes.php
+	 *
+	 * @return	array
+	 */
+	function &get_mimes()
+	{
+		static $_mimes = array();
+
+		if (defined('ENVIRONMENT') && is_file(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php'))
+		{
+			$_mimes = include(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php');
+		}
+		elseif (is_file(APPPATH.'config/mimes.php'))
+		{
+			$_mimes = include(APPPATH.'config/mimes.php');
+		}
+
+		return $_mimes;
+	}
+}
+
+// ------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 if ( ! function_exists('show_error'))
 {
 	/**
diff --git a/system/core/Output.php b/system/core/Output.php
index a9e77cc..0965671 100755
--- a/system/core/Output.php
+++ b/system/core/Output.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
 	 *
 	 * @var array
 	 */
-	public $mime_types =	array();
+	public $mimes =		array();
 
 	/**
 	 * Determines wether profiler is enabled
@@ -104,14 +104,7 @@
 		$this->_zlib_oc = (bool) @ini_get('zlib.output_compression');
 
 		// Get mime types for later
-		if (defined('ENVIRONMENT') && file_exists(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php'))
-		{
-			$this->mime_types = include APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php';
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			$this->mime_types = include APPPATH.'config/mimes.php';
-		}
+		$this->mimes =& get_mimes();
 
 		log_message('debug', 'Output Class Initialized');
 	}
@@ -214,9 +207,9 @@
 			$extension = ltrim($mime_type, '.');
 
 			// Is this extension supported?
-			if (isset($this->mime_types[$extension]))
+			if (isset($this->mimes[$extension]))
 			{
-				$mime_type =& $this->mime_types[$extension];
+				$mime_type =& $this->mimes[$extension];
 
 				if (is_array($mime_type))
 				{
diff --git a/system/helpers/download_helper.php b/system/helpers/download_helper.php
index 3c67705..5efbc49 100644
--- a/system/helpers/download_helper.php
+++ b/system/helpers/download_helper.php
@@ -73,14 +73,7 @@
 			}
 
 			// Load the mime types
-			if (defined('ENVIRONMENT') && is_file(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php'))
-			{
-				$mimes = include(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php');
-			}
-			elseif (is_file(APPPATH.'config/mimes.php'))
-			{
-				$mimes = include(APPPATH.'config/mimes.php');
-			}
+			$mimes =& get_mimes();
 
 			// Only change the default MIME if we can find one
 			if (isset($mimes[$extension]))
diff --git a/system/helpers/file_helper.php b/system/helpers/file_helper.php
index 068706c..d53d986 100644
--- a/system/helpers/file_helper.php
+++ b/system/helpers/file_helper.php
@@ -353,32 +353,19 @@
 
 		if ( ! is_array($mimes))
 		{
-			if (defined('ENVIRONMENT') && is_file(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php'))
-			{
-				$mimes = include(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php');
-			}
-			elseif (is_file(APPPATH.'config/mimes.php'))
-			{
-				$mimes = include(APPPATH.'config/mimes.php');
-			}
+			$mimes =& get_mimes();
 
-			if ( ! is_array($mimes))
+			if (empty($mimes))
 			{
 				return FALSE;
 			}
 		}
 
-		if (array_key_exists($extension, $mimes))
+		if (isset($mimes[$extension]))
 		{
-			if (is_array($mimes[$extension]))
-			{
-				// Multiple mime types, just give the first one
-				return current($mimes[$extension]);
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				return $mimes[$extension];
-			}
+			return is_array($mimes[$extension])
+				? current($mimes[$extension]) // Multiple mime types, just give the first one
+				: $mimes[$extension];
 		}
 
 		return FALSE;
diff --git a/system/libraries/Email.php b/system/libraries/Email.php
index 4586679..9391d82 100644
--- a/system/libraries/Email.php
+++ b/system/libraries/Email.php
@@ -1816,98 +1816,23 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _mime_types($ext = '')
 	{
-		$mimes = array(
-						'hqx'	=>	'application/mac-binhex40',
-						'cpt'	=>	'application/mac-compactpro',
-						'doc'	=>	'application/msword',
-						'bin'	=>	'application/macbinary',
-						'dms'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'lha'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'lzh'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'exe'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'class'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'psd'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'so'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'sea'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'dll'	=>	'application/octet-stream',
-						'oda'	=>	'application/oda',
-						'pdf'	=>	'application/pdf',
-						'ai'	=>	'application/postscript',
-						'eps'	=>	'application/postscript',
-						'ps'	=>	'application/postscript',
-						'smi'	=>	'application/smil',
-						'smil'	=>	'application/smil',
-						'mif'	=>	'application/vnd.mif',
-						'xls'	=>	'application/vnd.ms-excel',
-						'ppt'	=>	'application/vnd.ms-powerpoint',
-						'wbxml'	=>	'application/vnd.wap.wbxml',
-						'wmlc'	=>	'application/vnd.wap.wmlc',
-						'dcr'	=>	'application/x-director',
-						'dir'	=>	'application/x-director',
-						'dxr'	=>	'application/x-director',
-						'dvi'	=>	'application/x-dvi',
-						'gtar'	=>	'application/x-gtar',
-						'php'	=>	'application/x-httpd-php',
-						'php4'	=>	'application/x-httpd-php',
-						'php3'	=>	'application/x-httpd-php',
-						'phtml'	=>	'application/x-httpd-php',
-						'phps'	=>	'application/x-httpd-php-source',
-						'js'	=>	'application/x-javascript',
-						'swf'	=>	'application/x-shockwave-flash',
-						'sit'	=>	'application/x-stuffit',
-						'tar'	=>	'application/x-tar',
-						'tgz'	=>	'application/x-tar',
-						'xhtml'	=>	'application/xhtml+xml',
-						'xht'	=>	'application/xhtml+xml',
-						'zip'	=>	'application/zip',
-						'mid'	=>	'audio/midi',
-						'midi'	=>	'audio/midi',
-						'mpga'	=>	'audio/mpeg',
-						'mp2'	=>	'audio/mpeg',
-						'mp3'	=>	'audio/mpeg',
-						'aif'	=>	'audio/x-aiff',
-						'aiff'	=>	'audio/x-aiff',
-						'aifc'	=>	'audio/x-aiff',
-						'ram'	=>	'audio/x-pn-realaudio',
-						'rm'	=>	'audio/x-pn-realaudio',
-						'rpm'	=>	'audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin',
-						'ra'	=>	'audio/x-realaudio',
-						'rv'	=>	'video/vnd.rn-realvideo',
-						'wav'	=>	'audio/x-wav',
-						'bmp'	=>	'image/bmp',
-						'gif'	=>	'image/gif',
-						'jpeg'	=>	'image/jpeg',
-						'jpg'	=>	'image/jpeg',
-						'jpe'	=>	'image/jpeg',
-						'png'	=>	'image/png',
-						'tiff'	=>	'image/tiff',
-						'tif'	=>	'image/tiff',
-						'css'	=>	'text/css',
-						'ics'	=>	'text/calendar',
-						'html'	=>	'text/html',
-						'htm'	=>	'text/html',
-						'shtml'	=>	'text/html',
-						'txt'	=>	'text/plain',
-						'text'	=>	'text/plain',
-						'log'	=>	'text/plain',
-						'rtx'	=>	'text/richtext',
-						'rtf'	=>	'text/rtf',
-						'xml'	=>	'text/xml',
-						'xsl'	=>	'text/xml',
-						'mpeg'	=>	'video/mpeg',
-						'mpg'	=>	'video/mpeg',
-						'mpe'	=>	'video/mpeg',
-						'qt'	=>	'video/quicktime',
-						'mov'	=>	'video/quicktime',
-						'avi'	=>	'video/x-msvideo',
-						'movie'	=>	'video/x-sgi-movie',
-						'doc'	=>	'application/msword',
-						'word'	=>	'application/msword',
-						'xl'	=>	'application/excel',
-						'eml'	=>	'message/rfc822'
-					);
+		static $mimes;
 
-		return isset($mimes[strtolower($ext)]) ? $mimes[strtolower($ext)] : 'application/x-unknown-content-type';
+		$ext = strtolower($ext);
+
+		if ( ! is_array($mimes))
+		{
+			$mimes =& get_mimes();
+		}
+
+		if (isset($mimes[$ext]))
+		{
+			return is_array($mimes[$ext])
+				? current($mimes[$ext])
+				: $mimes[$ext];
+		}
+
+		return 'application/x-unknown-content-type';
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/system/libraries/Upload.php b/system/libraries/Upload.php
index e31029e..c1e07de 100644
--- a/system/libraries/Upload.php
+++ b/system/libraries/Upload.php
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@
 			$this->initialize($props);
 		}
 
+		$this->mimes =& get_mimes();
+
 		log_message('debug', 'Upload Class Initialized');
 	}
 
@@ -113,7 +115,6 @@
 					'image_type'			=> '',
 					'image_size_str'		=> '',
 					'error_msg'			=> array(),
-					'mimes'				=> array(),
 					'remove_spaces'			=> TRUE,
 					'xss_clean'			=> FALSE,
 					'temp_prefix'			=> 'temp_file_',
@@ -924,24 +925,6 @@
 	 */
 	public function mimes_types($mime)
 	{
-		global $mimes;
-
-		if (count($this->mimes) === 0)
-		{
-			if (defined('ENVIRONMENT') && is_file(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php'))
-			{
-				$this->mimes = include(APPPATH.'config/'.ENVIRONMENT.'/mimes.php');
-			}
-			elseif (is_file(APPPATH.'config/mimes.php'))
-			{
-				$this->mimes = include(APPPATH.'config/mimes.php');
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				return FALSE;
-			}
-		}
-
 		return isset($this->mimes[$mime]) ? $this->mimes[$mime] : FALSE;
 	}