diff --git a/examples/chat/README.md b/examples/chat/README.md
index a0935255..4b73eb51 100644
--- a/examples/chat/README.md
+++ b/examples/chat/README.md
@@ -8,18 +8,18 @@ between them.
 
 ## Connection configuration
 
-The database connection is configured via enviroment variables.
+The database connection is configured via the standard PostgreSQL environment variables.
 
-* CHAT_DB_HOST - defaults to localhost
-* CHAT_DB_USER - defaults to current OS user
-* CHAT_DB_PASSWORD - defaults to empty string
-* CHAT_DB_DATABASE - defaults to postgres
+* PGHOST - defaults to localhost
+* PGUSER - defaults to current OS user
+* PGPASSWORD - defaults to empty string
+* PGDATABASE - defaults to user name
 
 You can either export them then run chat:
 
-    export CHAT_DB_HOST=/private/tmp
+    export PGHOST=/private/tmp
     ./chat
 
 Or you can prefix the chat execution with the environment variables:
 
-    CHAT_DB_HOST=/private/tmp ./chat
+    PGHOST=/private/tmp ./chat
diff --git a/examples/chat/main.go b/examples/chat/main.go
index 69ef456b..04f56f7c 100644
--- a/examples/chat/main.go
+++ b/examples/chat/main.go
@@ -12,8 +12,13 @@ import (
 var pool *pgx.ConnPool
 
 func main() {
-	var err error
-	pool, err = pgx.NewConnPool(extractConfig())
+	config, err := pgx.ParseEnvLibpq()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Unable to parse environment:", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	pool, err = pgx.NewConnPool(pgx.ConnPoolConfig{ConnConfig: config})
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Unable to connect to database:", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
@@ -68,26 +73,3 @@ func listen() {
 		fmt.Println("PID:", notification.PID, "Channel:", notification.Channel, "Payload:", notification.Payload)
 	}
 }
-
-func extractConfig() pgx.ConnPoolConfig {
-	var config pgx.ConnPoolConfig
-
-	config.Host = os.Getenv("CHAT_DB_HOST")
-	if config.Host == "" {
-		config.Host = "localhost"
-	}
-
-	config.User = os.Getenv("CHAT_DB_USER")
-	if config.User == "" {
-		config.User = os.Getenv("USER")
-	}
-
-	config.Password = os.Getenv("CHAT_DB_PASSWORD")
-
-	config.Database = os.Getenv("CHAT_DB_DATABASE")
-	if config.Database == "" {
-		config.Database = "postgres"
-	}
-
-	return config
-}
diff --git a/examples/todo/README.md b/examples/todo/README.md
index eb3d95ba..32c32aa2 100644
--- a/examples/todo/README.md
+++ b/examples/todo/README.md
@@ -21,19 +21,19 @@ Build todo:
 
 The database connection is configured via enviroment variables.
 
-* TODO_DB_HOST - defaults to localhost
-* TODO_DB_USER - defaults to current OS user
-* TODO_DB_PASSWORD - defaults to empty string
-* TODO_DB_DATABASE - defaults to todo
+* PGHOST - defaults to localhost
+* PGUSER - defaults to current OS user
+* PGPASSWORD - defaults to empty string
+* PGDATABASE - defaults to user name
 
 You can either export them then run todo:
 
-    export TODO_DB_HOST=/private/tmp
+    export PGDATABASE=todo
     ./todo list
 
 Or you can prefix the todo execution with the environment variables:
 
-    TODO_DB_HOST=/private/tmp ./todo list
+    PGDATABASE=todo ./todo list
 
 ## Add a todo item
 
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ Or you can prefix the todo execution with the environment variables:
     CREATE TABLE
     Time: 6.363 ms
     jack@hk-47~/dev/go/src/github.com/jackc/pgx/examples/todo$ go build
-    jack@hk-47~/dev/go/src/github.com/jackc/pgx/examples/todo$ export TODO_DB_HOST=/private/tmp
+    jack@hk-47~/dev/go/src/github.com/jackc/pgx/examples/todo$ export PGDATABASE=todo
     jack@hk-47~/dev/go/src/github.com/jackc/pgx/examples/todo$ ./todo list
     jack@hk-47~/dev/go/src/github.com/jackc/pgx/examples/todo$ ./todo add 'Learn Go'
     jack@hk-47~/dev/go/src/github.com/jackc/pgx/examples/todo$ ./todo list
diff --git a/examples/todo/main.go b/examples/todo/main.go
index bacdf24e..70cbe14c 100644
--- a/examples/todo/main.go
+++ b/examples/todo/main.go
@@ -10,8 +10,13 @@ import (
 var conn *pgx.Conn
 
 func main() {
-	var err error
-	conn, err = pgx.Connect(extractConfig())
+	config, err := pgx.ParseEnvLibpq()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Unable to parse environment:", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	conn, err = pgx.Connect(config)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Unable to connection to database: %v\n", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
@@ -115,26 +120,3 @@ Example:
   todo list
 `)
 }
-
-func extractConfig() pgx.ConnConfig {
-	var config pgx.ConnConfig
-
-	config.Host = os.Getenv("TODO_DB_HOST")
-	if config.Host == "" {
-		config.Host = "localhost"
-	}
-
-	config.User = os.Getenv("TODO_DB_USER")
-	if config.User == "" {
-		config.User = os.Getenv("USER")
-	}
-
-	config.Password = os.Getenv("TODO_DB_PASSWORD")
-
-	config.Database = os.Getenv("TODO_DB_DATABASE")
-	if config.Database == "" {
-		config.Database = "todo"
-	}
-
-	return config
-}