diff --git a/ci/android.groovy b/ci/android.groovy
index c4fb63b59c..3cd7f9b43a 100644
--- a/ci/android.groovy
+++ b/ci/android.groovy
@@ -36,10 +36,11 @@ def bundle() {
     /* Nix target which produces the final APKs */
     nix.build(
       attr: 'targets.mobile.android.release',
-      args: [
-        'gradle-opts': gradleOpt,
-        'build-number': utils.readBuildNumber(),
-        'build-type': btype,
+      conf: [
+        'status-im.ci': '1',
+        'status-im.build-type': btype,
+        'status-im.status-react.gradle-opts': gradleOpt,
+        'status-im.status-react.build-number': utils.readBuildNumber(),
       ],
       safeEnv: [
         'STATUS_RELEASE_KEY_ALIAS',
diff --git a/ci/nix.groovy b/ci/nix.groovy
index 7f2d70c2fb..614e70c565 100644
--- a/ci/nix.groovy
+++ b/ci/nix.groovy
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ def shell(Map opts = [:], String cmd) {
  *  - pure - Use --pure mode with Nix for more deterministic behaviour
  *  - link - Bu default build creates a `result` directory, you can turn that off
  *  - keep - List of env variables to pass through to Nix build
+ *  - conf - Map of config values to provide to --arg config
  *  - args - Map of arguments to provide to --argstr
  *  - attr - Name of attribute to use with --attr flag
  *  - sbox - List of host file paths to pass to the Nix expression
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ def build(Map opts = [:]) {
     link: true,
     args: ['target': env.TARGET],
     keep: [],
+    conf: [:],
     attr: null,
     sbox: [],
     safeEnv: [],
@@ -116,11 +118,16 @@ private def _getNixCommandArgs(Map opts = [:], boolean isShell) {
     envFile.deleteOnExit()
   }
 
+  def configFlag = ''
   def argsFlags = opts.args.collect { key,val -> "--argstr ${key} \'${val}\'" }
   def attrFlag = ''
   if (opts.attr != null) {
     attrFlag = "--attr '${opts.attr}'"
   }
+  if (opts.conf != null && opts.conf != [:]) {
+    def configFlags = opts.conf.collect { key,val -> "${key}=\"${val}\";" }
+    configFlag = "--arg config \'{${configFlags.join('')}}\'"
+  }
   if (opts.sbox != null && !opts.sbox.isEmpty()) {
     extraSandboxPathsFlag = "--option extra-sandbox-paths \"${opts.sbox.join(' ')}\""
   }
@@ -128,6 +135,7 @@ private def _getNixCommandArgs(Map opts = [:], boolean isShell) {
   return [
     opts.pure ? "--pure" : "",
     opts.link ? "" : "--no-out-link",
+    configFlag,
     keepFlags.join(" "),
     argsFlags.join(" "),
     extraSandboxPathsFlag,
diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
index 2a336a37a9..8d6380b48f 100644
--- a/default.nix
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  config ? { }, # for passing status_go.src_override
+  config ? { status-im = { build-type = ""; }; }, # for passing build options, see nix/README.md
 }:
 
 let
diff --git a/nix/README.md b/nix/README.md
index cf3ebe2bea..c01e2fed0c 100644
--- a/nix/README.md
+++ b/nix/README.md
@@ -8,6 +8,26 @@ The main config file is [`nix/nix.conf`](/nix/nix.conf) and its main purpose is
 
 __NOTE:__ If you are in Asia you might want to add the `https://nix-cache-cn.status.im/` to be first in order of `substituters`. Removing `cache.nixos.org` could also help.
 
+## Build arguments
+
+We leverage the standard nixpkgs `config` argument for our own parameterization of the builds (e.g. to pass a build number or build type). Here is a sample structure of the `config` attribute set:
+
+```nix
+config = {
+  status-im = {
+    ci = "1";                 # This flag is present when running in a CI environment
+    build-type = "pr";        # Build type (influences which .env file gets used for feature flags)
+    status-go = {
+      src-override = "$GOPATH/src/github.com/status-im/status-go";
+    };
+    status-react = {
+      build-number = "9999";  # Build number to be assigned to the app bundle
+      gradle-opts = "";       # Gradle options passed for Android builds
+    };
+  };
+};
+```
+
 ## Shell
 
 In order to access an interactive Nix shell a user should run `make shell`.
diff --git a/nix/mobile/android/targets/release-android.nix b/nix/mobile/android/targets/release-android.nix
index a9561a7989..9b8bf3a272 100644
--- a/nix/mobile/android/targets/release-android.nix
+++ b/nix/mobile/android/targets/release-android.nix
@@ -3,11 +3,7 @@
   androidEnvShellHook, mavenAndNpmDeps,
   nodejs, openjdk, jsbundle, status-go, unzip, zlib }:
 
-{ build-number,
-  build-type, # Build type (e.g. nightly, release, e2e). Default is to use .env.nightly file
-  gradle-opts ? "",
-  keystore-file ? "", # Path to the .keystore file used to sign the package
-  secrets-file ? "", # Path to the file containing secret environment variables
+{ secrets-file ? "", # Path to the file containing secret environment variables
   watchmanSockPath ? "", # Path to the socket file exposed by an external watchman instance (workaround needed for building Android on macOS)
   env ? {} # Attribute set containing environment variables to expose to the build script
 }:
@@ -15,10 +11,14 @@
 assert (builtins.stringLength watchmanSockPath) > 0 -> stdenv.isDarwin;
 
 let
-  inherit (lib) hasAttrByPath optionalAttrs;
-  env' = env // optionalAttrs (hasAttrByPath ["status_go" "src_override"] config) {
-    STATUS_GO_SRC_OVERRIDE = config.status_go.src_override;
+  inherit (lib) attrByPath hasAttrByPath optionalAttrs;
+  env' = env // optionalAttrs (hasAttrByPath ["status-im" "status-go" "src-override"] config) {
+    STATUS_GO_SRC_OVERRIDE = config.status-im.status-go.src-override;
   };
+  inherit (config.status-im) build-type;
+  inherit (config.status-im.status-react) build-number;
+  gradle-opts = (attrByPath ["status-im" "status-react" "gradle-opts"] "" config);
+  keystore-file = (attrByPath ["status-im" "status-react" "keystore-file"] "" config); # Path to the .keystore file used to sign the package
   baseName = "release-android";
   name = "status-react-build-${baseName}";
   gradleHome = "$NIX_BUILD_TOP/.gradle";
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation {
     ${concatStrings (catAttrs "shellHook" [ mavenAndNpmDeps.shell status-go.shell ])}
 
     pushd $sourceRoot/android
-    ${adhocEnvVars} ./gradlew -PversionCode=${build-number} assemble${capitalizedBuildType} || exit
+    ${adhocEnvVars} ./gradlew -PversionCode=${assert build-number != ""; build-number} assemble${capitalizedBuildType} || exit
     popd > /dev/null
 
     ${unsetEnvVars}
diff --git a/nix/scripts/shell.sh b/nix/scripts/shell.sh
index e5081fb356..9821ab98c7 100755
--- a/nix/scripts/shell.sh
+++ b/nix/scripts/shell.sh
@@ -51,13 +51,14 @@ if [[ "$TARGET" =~ (linux|windows|darwin|macos) ]]; then
   nix-shell ${shellArgs[@]} --run "scripts/prepare-for-desktop-platform.sh" || exit
 fi
 
-statusGoConfig=''
+config=''
 if [ -n "${STATUS_GO_SRC_OVERRIDE}" ]; then
-  statusGoConfig+="status_go.src_override=\"${STATUS_GO_SRC_OVERRIDE}\";"
+  config+="status-im.status-go.src-override=\"${STATUS_GO_SRC_OVERRIDE}\";"
 fi
+config+="status-im.build-type=\"${BUILD_TYPE}\";"
 
-if [ -n "$statusGoConfig" ]; then
-  shellArgs+=("--arg config {$statusGoConfig}")
+if [ -n "$config" ]; then
+  shellArgs+=("--arg config {$config}")
 fi
 
 # if _NIX_ATTR is specified we shouldn't use shell.nix, the path will be different
diff --git a/nix/status-go/build-mobile-status-go.nix b/nix/status-go/build-mobile-status-go.nix
index 5f3d9ee53f..da58e06a7a 100644
--- a/nix/status-go/build-mobile-status-go.nix
+++ b/nix/status-go/build-mobile-status-go.nix
@@ -5,19 +5,18 @@
 
   # mobile-only arguments
   goBuildFlags, goBuildLdFlags,
-  config } @ args':
+  targetConfig } @ args':
 
 let
   inherit (stdenv.lib) concatStringsSep makeBinPath optional;
 
-  targetConfig = config;
   buildStatusGo = callPackage ./build-status-go.nix {
     inherit buildGoPackage go xcodeWrapper utils;
   };
 
   # Remove mobile-only arguments from args
   args = removeAttrs args' [
-    "config" "goBuildFlags" "goBuildLdFlags"
+    "targetConfig" "goBuildFlags" "goBuildLdFlags"
   ];
 
   buildStatusGoMobileLib = buildStatusGo (args // {
diff --git a/nix/status-go/default.nix b/nix/status-go/default.nix
index f68f11d0dd..c9d2e170c1 100644
--- a/nix/status-go/default.nix
+++ b/nix/status-go/default.nix
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ let
   buildStatusGoDesktopLib = callPackage ./build-desktop-status-go.nix { inherit buildGoPackage go xcodeWrapper utils; };
   buildStatusGoMobileLib = callPackage ./build-mobile-status-go.nix { inherit buildGoPackage go gomobile xcodeWrapper utils; };
   srcData =
-    # If config.status_go.src_override is defined, instruct Nix to use that path to build status-go
-    if (attrByPath ["status_go" "src_override"] "" config) != "" then rec {
+    # If config.status-im.status-go.src-override is defined, instruct Nix to use that path to build status-go
+    if (attrByPath ["status-im" "status-go" "src-override"] "" config) != "" then rec {
         owner = "status-im";
         repo = "status-go";
         rev = "unknown";
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ let
         cleanVersion = rawVersion;
         goPackagePath = "github.com/${owner}/${repo}";
         src =
-          let path = traceValFn (path: "Using local ${repo} sources from ${path}\n") config.status_go.src_override;
+          let path = traceValFn (path: "Using local ${repo} sources from ${path}\n") config.status-im.status-go.src-override;
           in builtins.path { # We use builtins.path so that we can name the resulting derivation, otherwise the name would be taken from the checkout directory, which is outside of our control
             inherit path;
             name = "${repo}-source-${shortRev}";
@@ -106,12 +106,12 @@ let
 
     android = buildStatusGoMobileLib (statusGoArgs // {
       host = mobileConfigs.android.name;
-      config = mobileConfigs.android;
+      targetConfig = mobileConfigs.android;
     });
 
     ios = buildStatusGoMobileLib (statusGoArgs // {
       host = mobileConfigs.ios.name;
-      config = mobileConfigs.ios;
+      targetConfig = mobileConfigs.ios;
     });
   };
 
diff --git a/nix/targets.nix b/nix/targets.nix
index 1b1037621b..1da19a1309 100644
--- a/nix/targets.nix
+++ b/nix/targets.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ 
+{
   config ? {},
   pkgs ? import ./pkgs.nix { inherit config; }
 }:
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ let
     inherit stdenv;
   };
 
-  status-go = callPackage ./status-go { 
+  status-go = callPackage ./status-go {
     inherit (mobile) xcodeWrapper;
     androidPkgs = mobile.android.androidComposition;
   };
diff --git a/nix/tools/envParser.nix b/nix/tools/envParser.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..72e19a12aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/tools/envParser.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# This Nix expression takes care of reading/parsing the correct .env configuration file and return it as an attr set
+{ config, stdenv }:
+
+let
+  inherit (builtins) listToAttrs head tail readFile;
+  inherit (stdenv.lib) attrByPath filter hasPrefix nameValuePair splitString;
+
+  build-type = attrByPath ["status-im" "build-type"] "" config;
+  ci = (attrByPath ["status-im" "ci"] "" config) != "";
+
+  readLinesFromFile =
+    file:
+      let
+        lines = splitString "\n" (readFile file);
+        removeComments = filter (line: line != "" && !(hasPrefix "#" line));
+        meaningfulLines = removeComments lines;
+      in
+        meaningfulLines;
+  readFlagsFromFile =
+    file:
+      let
+        lines = readLinesFromFile file;
+        genAttrs = lines:
+          listToAttrs (map (line:
+            let flag = splitString "=" line;
+            in nameValuePair (head flag) (head (tail flag))) lines);
+      in
+        genAttrs lines;
+  envFileName =
+    if build-type == "release" then ../../.env.release else
+    if build-type == "nightly" then ../../.env.nightly else
+    if build-type == "e2e" then ../../.env.e2e else
+    if ci then ../../.env.jenkins else ../../.env;
+  flags = readFlagsFromFile envFileName; # TODO: Simplify this path search with lib.locateDominatingFile
+
+in flags
diff --git a/scripts/release-android.sh b/scripts/release-android.sh
index c110549729..3796bccd13 100755
--- a/scripts/release-android.sh
+++ b/scripts/release-android.sh
@@ -6,23 +6,22 @@ source "$_current_dir/lib/setup/path-support.sh"
 
 source_lib "platform.sh"
 
-statusGoConfig=''
+config=''
+config+="status-im.build-type=\"${BUILD_TYPE}\";"
 if [ -n "${STATUS_GO_SRC_OVERRIDE}" ]; then
-  statusGoConfig+="status_go.src_override=\"${STATUS_GO_SRC_OVERRIDE}\";"
+  config+="status-im.status-go.src-override=\"${STATUS_GO_SRC_OVERRIDE}\";"
 fi
-
+config+="status-im.status-react.build-number=\"${BUILD_NUMBER}\";"
+config+="status-im.status-react.keystore-file=\"${STORE_FILE}\";"
 nixOpts=(
-  "--arg config {${statusGoConfig}}"
+  "--arg config {${config}}"
   "--arg env {BUILD_ENV=\"${BUILD_ENV}\";ANDROID_ABI_SPLIT=\"${ANDROID_ABI_SPLIT}\";ANDROID_ABI_INCLUDE=\"${ANDROID_ABI_INCLUDE}\";}"
-  "--argstr build-type ${BUILD_TYPE}"
-  "--argstr build-number ${BUILD_NUMBER}"
-  "--argstr keystore-file ${STORE_FILE}"
 )
 
 if is_macos; then
   # Start a watchman instance if not started already and store its socket path.
   # In order to get access to the right versions of watchman and jq, we start an ad-hoc nix-shell that imports the packages from nix/nixpkgs-bootstrap.
-  WATCHMAN_SOCKFILE = $(watchman get-sockname --no-pretty | jq -r .sockname)
+  WATCHMAN_SOCKFILE=$(watchman get-sockname --no-pretty | jq -r .sockname)
   nixOpts+=(
     "--argstr watchmanSockPath ${WATCHMAN_SOCKFILE}"
     "--option extra-sandbox-paths ${STORE_FILE};${WATCHMAN_SOCKFILE}"
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index e33937594c..03efc2c7b5 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  config ? { },      # for passing status_go.src_override
+  config ? { },      # for passing build options, see nix/README.md
   target ? "default" # see nix/shells.nix for all valid values
 }: