diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
index dec1586..73a8b68 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@
 	var $_count_string = 'SELECT COUNT(*) AS ';
 	var $_random_keyword = ' RAND()'; // database specific random keyword
 
+	// whether SET NAMES must be used to set the character set
+	var $use_set_names;
+	
 	/**
 	 * Non-persistent database connection
 	 *
@@ -132,15 +135,13 @@
 	 */
 	function db_set_charset($charset, $collation)
 	{
-		static $use_set_names;
-
-		if ( ! isset($use_set_names))
+		if ( ! isset($this->use_set_names))
 		{
 			// mysql_set_charset() requires PHP >= 5.2.3 and MySQL >= 5.0.7, use SET NAMES as fallback
-			$use_set_names = (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.2.3', '>=') && version_compare(mysql_get_server_info(), '5.0.7', '>=')) ? FALSE : TRUE;
+			$this->use_set_names = (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.2.3', '>=') && version_compare(mysql_get_server_info(), '5.0.7', '>=')) ? FALSE : TRUE;
 		}
 
-		if ($use_set_names)
+		if ($this->use_set_names === TRUE)
 		{
 			return @mysql_query("SET NAMES '".$this->escape_str($charset)."' COLLATE '".$this->escape_str($collation)."'", $this->conn_id);
 		}