protected function &_lookupConfigElement($path, $create_elements = false)
    {
        $path = explode('/', $path);
        $pos = &$this->config;
        foreach ($path as $el) {
            // create empty element if it doesn't exist
            if (!array_key_exists($el, $pos) && $create_elements) {
                $pos[$el] = [];
            }
            // if it still doesn't exist, then just return false (no error)
            if (!array_key_exists($el, $pos) && !$create_elements) {
                // trick to return false because we need reference here
                $false = false;

                return $false;
            }

            $pos = &$pos[$el];
        }

        return $pos;
    }