diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 9d3bb6f80..ea4121c34 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 * 1.28.0 (2016-XX-XX)
 
+ * changed context access to use the PHP 7 null coalescing operator when available
  * added the "with" tag
  * added support for a custom template on the block() function
  * added "is defined" support for block() and constant()
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Node/Expression/Name.php b/lib/Twig/Node/Expression/Name.php
index a6e0ff420..d18aaca39 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Node/Expression/Name.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Node/Expression/Name.php
@@ -43,10 +43,20 @@ class Twig_Node_Expression_Name extends Twig_Node_Expression
                 ->raw(']')
             ;
         } else {
-            // remove the non-PHP 5.4 version when PHP 5.3 support is dropped
-            // as the non-optimized version is just a workaround for slow ternary operator
-            // when the context has a lot of variables
-            if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400) {
+            if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 70000) {
+                // use PHP 7 null coalescing operator
+                $compiler
+                    ->raw('($context[')
+                    ->string($name)
+                    ->raw('] ?? ')
+                ;
+
+                if ($this->getAttribute('ignore_strict_check') || !$compiler->getEnvironment()->isStrictVariables()) {
+                    $compiler->raw('null)');
+                } else {
+                    $compiler->raw('$this->getContext($context, ')->string($name)->raw('))');
+                }
+            } elseif (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400) {
                 // PHP 5.4 ternary operator performance was optimized
                 $compiler
                     ->raw('(isset($context[')
diff --git a/lib/Twig/Test/NodeTestCase.php b/lib/Twig/Test/NodeTestCase.php
index e591c1d52..a6b550cf8 100644
--- a/lib/Twig/Test/NodeTestCase.php
+++ b/lib/Twig/Test/NodeTestCase.php
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ abstract class Twig_Test_NodeTestCase extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     {
         $line = $line > 0 ? "// line {$line}\n" : '';
 
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 70000) {
+            return sprintf('%s($context["%s"] ?? null)', $line, $name, $name);
+        }
+
         if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400) {
             return sprintf('%s(isset($context["%s"]) ? $context["%s"] : null)', $line, $name, $name);
         }
diff --git a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/NameTest.php b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/NameTest.php
index 57a6ed758..70721a8bf 100644
--- a/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/NameTest.php
+++ b/test/Twig/Tests/Node/Expression/NameTest.php
@@ -26,8 +26,16 @@ class Twig_Tests_Node_Expression_NameTest extends Twig_Test_NodeTestCase
         $env = new Twig_Environment($this->getMockBuilder('Twig_LoaderInterface')->getMock(), array('strict_variables' => true));
         $env1 = new Twig_Environment($this->getMockBuilder('Twig_LoaderInterface')->getMock(), array('strict_variables' => false));
 
+        if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 70000) {
+            $output = '($context["foo"] ?? $this->getContext($context, "foo"))';
+        } elseif (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400) {
+            $output = '(isset($context["foo"]) ? $context["foo"] : $this->getContext($context, "foo"))';
+        } else {
+            $output = '$this->getContext($context, "foo")';
+        }
+
         return array(
-            array($node, "// line 1\n".(PHP_VERSION_ID >= 50400 ? '(isset($context["foo"]) ? $context["foo"] : $this->getContext($context, "foo"))' : '$this->getContext($context, "foo")'), $env),
+            array($node, "// line 1\n".$output, $env),
             array($node, $this->getVariableGetter('foo', 1), $env1),
             array($context, "// line 1\n\$context"),
         );