diff --git a/_config.php b/_config.php
index 0e41915..a590f29 100644
--- a/_config.php
+++ b/_config.php
@@ -2,3 +2,6 @@
 /**
  * @package recaptcha
  */
+// Ensure compatibility with PHP 7.2 ("object" is a reserved word),
+// with SilverStripe 3.6 (using Object) and SilverStripe 3.7 (using SS_Object)
+if (!class_exists('SS_Object')) class_alias('Object', 'SS_Object');
diff --git a/code/RecaptchaField.php b/code/RecaptchaField.php
index 52442e1..d886c1b 100644
--- a/code/RecaptchaField.php
+++ b/code/RecaptchaField.php
@@ -158,14 +158,14 @@ public function Field($properties = array())
      */
     public function validate($validator)
     {
-        /** @var array $request */
+        /** @var array $postVars */
         if(SapphireTest::is_running_test()) {
-            $request = $_REQUEST;
+            $postVars = $_REQUEST;
         } else {
-            $request = Controller::curr()->getRequest();
+            $postVars = Controller::curr()->getRequest()->postVars();
         }
         // don't bother querying the recaptcha-service if fields were empty
-        if (!array_key_exists('g-recaptcha-response', $request) || empty($request['g-recaptcha-response'])) {
+        if (!array_key_exists('g-recaptcha-response', $postVars) || empty($postVars['g-recaptcha-response'])) {
             $validator->validationError(
                 $this->name,
                 _t(
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ public function validate($validator)
             return false;
         }
 
-        $response = $this->recaptchaHTTPPost($_REQUEST['g-recaptcha-response']);
+        $response = $this->recaptchaHTTPPost($postVars['g-recaptcha-response']);
 
         if (!$response) {
             $validator->validationError(
@@ -288,10 +288,12 @@ class RecaptchaField_HTTPClient extends Object
     public function post($url, $postVars)
     {
         $ch = curl_init($url);
-        if (!empty(RecaptchaField::$proxy_server)) {
-            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXY, RecaptchaField::$proxy_server);
-            if (!empty(RecaptchaField::$proxy_auth)) {
-                curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXYUSERPWD, RecaptchaField::$proxy_auth);
+        $proxyServer = Config::inst()->get('RecaptchaField', 'proxy_server');
+        if (!empty($proxyServer)) {
+            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXY, $proxyServer);
+            $proxyAuth = Config::inst()->get('RecaptchaField', 'proxy_auth');
+            if (!empty($proxyAuth)) {
+                curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXYUSERPWD, $proxyAuth);
             }
         }