diff --git a/application/config/database.php b/application/config/database.php
index 24d611a..fa541a7 100644
--- a/application/config/database.php
+++ b/application/config/database.php
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@
 |	['cachedir'] The path to the folder where cache files should be stored
 |	['char_set'] The character set used in communicating with the database
 |	['dbcollat'] The character collation used in communicating with the database
+|				 NOTE: For MySQL and MySQLi databases, this setting is only used
+| 				 as a backup if your server is running PHP < 5.2.3 or MySQL < 5.0.7.
+| 				 There is an incompatibility in PHP with mysql_real_escape_string() which
+| 				 can make your site vulnerable to SQL injection if you are using a
+| 				 multi-byte character set and are running versions lower than these.
+| 				 Sites using Latin-1 or UTF-8 database character set and collation are unaffected.
 |	['swap_pre'] A default table prefix that should be swapped with the dbprefix
 |	['autoinit'] Whether or not to automatically initialize the database.
 |	['stricton'] TRUE/FALSE - forces 'Strict Mode' connections
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
index 4ff9b0a..b7d547c 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mysql/mysql_driver.php
@@ -132,7 +132,22 @@
 	 */
 	function db_set_charset($charset, $collation)
 	{
-		return @mysql_query("SET NAMES '".$this->escape_str($charset)."' COLLATE '".$this->escape_str($collation)."'", $this->conn_id);
+		static $use_set_names;
+		
+		if ( ! isset($use_set_names))
+		{
+			// mysql_set_charset() requires PHP >= 5.2.3 and MySQL >= 5.0.7, use SET NAMES as fallback
+			$use_set_names = (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.2.3', '>=') && version_compare(mysql_get_server_info(), '5.0.7', '>=')) ? FALSE : TRUE;
+		}
+
+		if ($use_set_names)
+		{
+			return @mysql_query("SET NAMES '".$this->escape_str($charset)."' COLLATE '".$this->escape_str($collation)."'", $this->conn_id);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			return @mysql_set_charset($charset, $this->conn_id);
+		}
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
index ccdabce..1949acb 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
@@ -132,7 +132,22 @@
 	 */
 	function _db_set_charset($charset, $collation)
 	{
-		return @mysqli_query($this->conn_id, "SET NAMES '".$this->escape_str($charset)."' COLLATE '".$this->escape_str($collation)."'");
+		static $use_set_names;
+		
+		if ( ! isset($use_set_names))
+		{
+			// mysqli_set_charset() requires MySQL >= 5.0.7, use SET NAMES as fallback
+			$use_set_names = (version_compare(mysql_get_server_info(), '5.0.7', '>=')) ? FALSE : TRUE;
+		}
+
+		if ($use_set_names)
+		{
+			return @mysqli_query($this->conn_id, "SET NAMES '".$this->escape_str($charset)."' COLLATE '".$this->escape_str($collation)."'");
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			return @mysqli_set_charset($this->conn_id, $charset);
+		}
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/user_guide/changelog.html b/user_guide/changelog.html
index 945b104..6eb80b3 100644
--- a/user_guide/changelog.html
+++ b/user_guide/changelog.html
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@
 <p>Release Date: Not Released</p>
 
 <ul>
+	<li>Security
+		<ul>
+			<li>An improvement was made to the MySQL and MySQLi drivers to prevent exposing a potential vector for SQL injection on sites using multi-byte character sets in the database client connection.  <p>An incompatibility in PHP versions &lt; 5.2.3 and MySQL &lt; 5.0.7 with <em>mysql_set_charset()</em> creates a situation where using multi-byte  character sets on these environments may potentially expose a SQL injection attack vector.  Latin-1, UTF-8, and other "low ASCII" character sets are unaffected on all environments.</p>  <p class="critical">If you are running or considering running a multi-byte character set for your database connection, please pay close attention to the server environment you are deploying on to ensure you are not vulnerable.</p></li>
+		</ul>
 	<li>General Changes
 		<ul>
 			<li>Added Session Class userdata to the output profiler.  Additionally, added a show/hide toggle on HTTP Headers, Session Data and Config Variables.</li>
diff --git a/user_guide/database/configuration.html b/user_guide/database/configuration.html
index fdeae0e..51d11c9 100644
--- a/user_guide/database/configuration.html
+++ b/user_guide/database/configuration.html
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@
 <li><strong>cache_on</strong> - TRUE/FALSE (boolean) - Whether database query caching is enabled, see also <a href="caching.html">Database Caching Class</a>.</li>
 <li><strong>cachedir</strong> - The absolute server path to your database query cache directory.</li>
 <li><strong>char_set</strong> - The character set used in communicating with the database.</li>
-<li><strong>dbcollat</strong> - The character collation used in communicating with the database.</li>
+<li><strong>dbcollat</strong> - The character collation used in communicating with the database. <p class="important"><strong>Note:</strong> For MySQL and MySQLi databases, this setting is only used as a backup if your server is running PHP &lt; 5.2.3 or MySQL &lt; 5.0.7.  There is an incompatibility in PHP with mysql_real_escape_string() which can make your site vulnerable to SQL injection if you are using a multi-byte character set and are running versions lower than these.  Sites using Latin-1 or UTF-8 database character set and collation are unaffected.</p></li>
 <li><strong>swap_pre</strong> - A default table prefix that should be swapped with <var>dbprefix</var>.  This is useful for distributed applications where you might run manually written queries, and need the prefix to still be customizable by the end user.</li>
 <li><strong>autoinit</strong> - Whether or not to automatically connect to the database when the library loads. If set to false, the connection will take place prior to executing the first query.</li>
 <li><strong>stricton</strong> - TRUE/FALSE (boolean) - Whether to force "Strict Mode" connections, good for ensuring strict SQL while developing an application.</li>