LIRC Service not picking up systemd Environment File

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Is there some issue with "EnvironmentFile=..." in systemd service file?

I'm trying to use this type of service file:

[Unit]
Description=LIRC Daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
EnvironmentFile=/etc/conf.d/lircd.conf
PIDFile=/run/lirc/lircd.pid
ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir -p /run/lirc
ExecStartPre=/bin/rm -f /dev/lircd /run/lirc/lircd
ExecStartPre=/bin/ln -s /run/lirc/lircd /dev/lircd
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/lircd -d $LIRC_DEVICE -H $LIRC_DRIVER -P 
/run/lirc/lircd.pid $LIRC_CONFIGFILE
ExecStopPost=/bin/rm -fR /dev/lircd /run/lirc

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target


But this is what I have to do to make it work:
I have to pass the arguments explicitly to /usr/sbin/lircd.

...
[Service]
Type=forking
EnvironmentFile=/etc/conf.d/lircd.conf
PIDFile=/run/lirc/lircd.pid
ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir -p /run/lirc
ExecStartPre=/bin/rm -f /dev/lircd /run/lirc/lircd
ExecStartPre=/bin/ln -s /run/lirc/lircd /dev/lircd
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/lircd -d "/dev/lirc0" -H "devinput" -P 
/run/lirc/lircd.pid /etc/lirc/lircd.conf
ExecStopPost=/bin/rm -fR /dev/lircd /run/lirc
...

The "EnvionmentFile=/etc/conf.d/lircd.conf" contains:

LIRC_DEVICE = "/dev/lirc0"
LIRC_DRIVER = "devinput"
LIRC_CONFIGFILE = /etc/lirc/lircd.conf