diff --git a/avocado/test.py b/avocado/test.py
index 8e2e232dd3756f5f317421cd18eccf6bbe4c3be4..606ab90aedf00167347db68cf8da63a328d7d2f4 100644
--- a/avocado/test.py
+++ b/avocado/test.py
@@ -144,7 +144,6 @@ class Test(unittest.TestCase):
         # Apply what comes from the params dict
         for key in sorted(self.params.keys()):
             self.log.debug('    %s = %s', key, self.params.get(key))
-            setattr(self.params, key, self.params.get(key))
         self.log.debug('')
 
         # Apply what comes from the default_params dict
@@ -157,7 +156,7 @@ class Test(unittest.TestCase):
         self.log.debug('')
 
         # If there's a timeout set, log a timeout reminder
-        if hasattr(self.params, 'timeout'):
+        if self.params.timeout:
             self.log.info('Test timeout set. Will wait %.2f s for '
                           'PID %s to end',
                           float(self.params.timeout), os.getpid())
@@ -205,7 +204,6 @@ class Test(unittest.TestCase):
             self.params[key]
         except Exception:
             self.params[key] = default
-            setattr(self.params, key, default)
 
     def get_deps_path(self, basename):
         """
diff --git a/avocado/utils/params.py b/avocado/utils/params.py
index 52cb6b5066a142dabc5f55e97e7d28d1ca92454b..8aa8007dc15b60c54e61392e6e33ed8522d76c71 100644
--- a/avocado/utils/params.py
+++ b/avocado/utils/params.py
@@ -25,7 +25,10 @@ class Params(UserDict.IterableUserDict):
         try:
             value = UserDict.IterableUserDict.__getitem__(self, key)
             vtype = UserDict.IterableUserDict.get(self, "%s_type" % key)
-            return settings.convert_value_type(value, vtype)
+            if vtype is not None:
+                return settings.convert_value_type(value, vtype)
+            else:
+                return value
         except KeyError:
             raise ParamNotFound("Mandatory parameter '%s' is missing. "
                                 "Check your cfg files for typos/mistakes" %
@@ -35,6 +38,15 @@ class Params(UserDict.IterableUserDict):
                                    "convert to %s: %s" %
                                    (key, value, vtype, details))
 
+    def __getattr__(self, attr):
+        try:
+            return UserDict.IterableUserDict.__getattr__(self, attr)
+        except AttributeError:
+            try:
+                return self.__getitem__(attr)
+            except ParamNotFound:
+                return None
+
     def objects(self, key):
         """
         Return the names of objects defined using a given key.
@@ -59,7 +71,7 @@ class Params(UserDict.IterableUserDict):
         """
         suffix = "_" + obj_name
         self.lock.acquire()
-        new_dict = self.copy()
+        new_dict = self.data.copy()
         self.lock.release()
         for key in new_dict.keys():
             if key.endswith(suffix):