diff --git a/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
index 13ecb24..5ba0cf8 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@
 	    }
 	}
 
+	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 	/**
 	 * Non-persistent database connection
 	 *
@@ -190,9 +192,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function db_connect()
 	{
-		$this->options[PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE] = PDO::ERRMODE_SILENT;
-
-		return $this->pdo_connect();
+		return $this->_pdo_connect();
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -204,10 +204,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function db_pconnect()
 	{
-		$this->options[PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE] = PDO::ERRMODE_SILENT;
-		$this->options[PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT] = TRUE;
-
-		return $this->pdo_connect();
+		return $this->_pdo_connect(TRUE);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -215,20 +212,29 @@
 	/**
 	 * PDO connection
 	 *
+	 * @param	bool
 	 * @return	object
 	 */
-	public function pdo_connect()
+	protected function _pdo_connect($persistent = FALSE)
 	{
-		// Refer : http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pdo-mysql.connection.php
-		if ($this->pdodriver === 'mysql' && ! is_php('5.3.6'))
+		$this->options[PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE] = PDO::ERRMODE_SILENT;
+		$persistent === FALSE OR $this->options[PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT] = TRUE;
+
+		/* Prior to PHP 5.3.6, even if the charset was supplied in the DSN
+		 * on connect - it was ignored. This is a work-around for the issue.
+		 *
+		 * Reference: http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.pdo-mysql.connection.php
+		 */
+		if ($this->subdriver === 'mysql' && ! is_php('5.3.6') && ! empty($this->char_set))
 		{
-			$this->options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND] = "SET NAMES $this->char_set COLLATE '$this->dbcollat'";
+			$this->options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND] = 'SET NAMES '.$this->char_set
+					.( ! empty($this->db_collat) ? " COLLATE '".$this->dbcollat."'" : '');
 		}
 
 		// Connecting...
 		try
 		{
-			$db = new PDO($this->dsn, $this->username, $this->password, $this->options);
+			return new PDO($this->dsn, $this->username, $this->password, $this->options);
 		}
 		catch (PDOException $e)
 		{
@@ -239,8 +245,6 @@
 
 			return FALSE;
 		}
-
-		return $db;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -267,18 +271,7 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _execute($sql)
 	{
-		$result_id = $this->conn_id->query($sql);
-
-		if (is_object($result_id))
-		{
-			$this->affect_rows = $result_id->rowCount();
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			$this->affect_rows = 0;
-		}
-
-		return $result_id;
+		return $this->conn_id->query($sql);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -299,7 +292,7 @@
 		// Reset the transaction failure flag.
 		// If the $test_mode flag is set to TRUE transactions will be rolled back
 		// even if the queries produce a successful result.
-		$this->_trans_failure = (bool) ($test_mode === TRUE);
+		$this->_trans_failure = ($test_mode === TRUE);
 
 		return $this->conn_id->beginTransaction();
 	}
@@ -361,10 +354,10 @@
 			return $str;
 		}
 
-		//Escape the string
+		// Escape the string
 		$str = $this->conn_id->quote($str);
 
-		//If there are duplicated quotes, trim them away
+		// If there are duplicated quotes, trim them away
 		if (strpos($str, "'") === 0)
 		{
 			$str = substr($str, 1, -1);
@@ -390,7 +383,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function affected_rows()
 	{
-		return $this->affect_rows;
+		return is_object($this->result_id) ? $this->result_id->rowCount() : 0;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -398,6 +391,7 @@
 	/**
 	 * Insert ID
 	 *
+	 * @param	string
 	 * @return	int
 	 */
 	public function insert_id($name = NULL)
@@ -712,12 +706,11 @@
 	/**
 	 * Close DB Connection
 	 *
-	 * @param	resource
 	 * @return	void
 	 */
-	protected function _close($conn_id)
+	protected function _close()
 	{
-		$this->conn_id = null;
+		$this->conn_id = NULL;
 	}
 
 }