diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
index 041daf7..a6ac14f 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@
 	public function db_connect()
 	{
 		return ($this->port != '')
-			? @mysqli_connect($this->hostname, $this->username, $this->password, $this->database, $this->port)
-			: @mysqli_connect($this->hostname, $this->username, $this->password, $this->database);
+			? @new mysqli($this->hostname, $this->username, $this->password, $this->database, $this->port)
+			: @new mysqli($this->hostname, $this->username, $this->password, $this->database);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@
 		}
 
 		return ($this->port != '')
-			? @mysqli_connect('p:'.$this->hostname, $this->username, $this->password, $this->database, $this->port)
-			: @mysqli_connect('p:'.$this->hostname, $this->username, $this->password, $this->database);
+			? @new mysqli('p:'.$this->hostname, $this->username, $this->password, $this->database, $this->port)
+			: @new mysqli('p:'.$this->hostname, $this->username, $this->password, $this->database);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function reconnect()
 	{
-		if (mysqli_ping($this->conn_id) === FALSE)
+		if ($this->conn_id !== FALSE && $this->conn_id->ping() === FALSE)
 		{
 			$this->conn_id = FALSE;
 		}
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@
 			$database = $this->database;
 		}
 
-		if (@mysqli_select_db($this->conn_id, $database))
+		if (@$this->conn_id->select_db($database))
 		{
 			$this->database = $database;
 			return TRUE;
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _db_set_charset($charset)
 	{
-		return @mysqli_set_charset($this->conn_id, $charset);
+		return @$this->conn_id->set_charset($charset);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@
 	{
 		return isset($this->data_cache['version'])
 			? $this->data_cache['version']
-			: $this->data_cache['version'] = @mysqli_get_server_info($this->conn_id);
+			: $this->data_cache['version'] = $this->conn_id->server_info;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _execute($sql)
 	{
-		return @mysqli_query($this->conn_id, $this->_prep_query($sql));
+		return @$this->conn_id->query($this->_prep_query($sql));
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@
 			return $str;
 		}
 
-		$str = is_object($this->conn_id) ? mysqli_real_escape_string($this->conn_id, $str) : addslashes($str);
+		$str = is_object($this->conn_id) ? $this->conn_id->real_escape_string($str) : addslashes($str);
 
 		// escape LIKE condition wildcards
 		if ($like === TRUE)
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function affected_rows()
 	{
-		return @mysqli_affected_rows($this->conn_id);
+		return $this->conn_id->affected_rows;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function insert_id()
 	{
-		return @mysqli_insert_id($this->conn_id);
+		return $this->conn_id->insert_id;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -433,7 +433,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function error()
 	{
-		return array('code' => mysqli_errno($this->conn_id), 'message' => mysqli_error($this->conn_id));
+		return array('code' => $this->conn_id->errno, 'message' => $this->conn_id->error);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -690,10 +690,11 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _close($conn_id)
 	{
-		@mysqli_close($conn_id);
+		$this->conn_id->close();
+		$this->conn_id = FALSE;
 	}
 
 }
 
 /* End of file mysqli_driver.php */
-/* Location: ./system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php */
\ No newline at end of file
+/* Location: ./system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_driver.php */
diff --git a/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_result.php b/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_result.php
index 83d88aa..dc7d9a7 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_result.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_result.php
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function num_rows()
 	{
-		return @mysqli_num_rows($this->result_id);
+		return $this->result_id->num_rows;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
 	 */
 	public function num_fields()
 	{
-		return @mysqli_num_fields($this->result_id);
+		return $this->result_id->field_count;
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 	public function list_fields()
 	{
 		$field_names = array();
-		while ($field = mysqli_fetch_field($this->result_id))
+		while ($field = $this->result_id->fetch_field())
 		{
 			$field_names[] = $field->name;
 		}
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
 	public function field_data()
 	{
 		$retval = array();
-		$field_data = mysqli_fetch_fields($this->result_id);
+		$field_data = $this->result_id->fetch_fields();
 		for ($i = 0, $c = count($field_data); $i < $c; $i++)
 		{
 			$retval[$i]			= new stdClass();
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@
 	{
 		if (is_object($this->result_id))
 		{
-			mysqli_free_result($this->result_id);
+			$this->result_id->free();
 			$this->result_id = FALSE;
 		}
 	}
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _data_seek($n = 0)
 	{
-		return mysqli_data_seek($this->result_id, $n);
+		return $this->result_id->data_seek($n);
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _fetch_assoc()
 	{
-		return mysqli_fetch_assoc($this->result_id);
+		return $this->result_id->fetch_assoc();
 	}
 
 	// --------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -161,10 +161,10 @@
 	 */
 	protected function _fetch_object()
 	{
-		return mysqli_fetch_object($this->result_id);
+		return $this->result_id->fetch_object();
 	}
 
 }
 
 /* End of file mysqli_result.php */
-/* Location: ./system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_result.php */
\ No newline at end of file
+/* Location: ./system/database/drivers/mysqli/mysqli_result.php */
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
index 37c38f1..b4bf0cf 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
@@ -58,8 +58,10 @@
       get_compiled_insert(), get_compiled_update(), get_compiled_delete().
    -  Taking care of LIKE condition when used with MySQL UPDATE statement.
    -  Adding $escape parameter to the order_by function, this enables ordering by custom fields.
-   -  MySQLi driver now uses mysqli_get_server_info() for server version checking.
-   -  MySQLi driver now supports persistent connections when running on PHP >= 5.3.
+   -  Improved support for the MySQLi driver, including:
+	 -  OOP style of the PHP extension is now used, instead of the procedural aliases.
+	 -  Server version checking is now done via ``mysqli::$server_info`` instead of running an SQL query.
+	 -  Added persistent connections support for PHP >= 5.3.
    -  Added 'dsn' configuration setting for drivers that support DSN strings (PDO, PostgreSQL, Oracle, ODBC, CUBRID).
    -  Improved PDO database support.
    -  Added Interbase/Firebird database support via the "interbase" driver