diff --git a/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php b/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
index e536cc4..b4c3102 100644
--- a/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
+++ b/system/database/drivers/pdo/pdo_driver.php
@@ -59,6 +59,12 @@
 			$this->_like_escape_str = '';
 			$this->_like_escape_chr = '';
 
+			//Prior to this version, the charset can't be set in the dsn
+			if(is_php('5.3.6'))
+			{
+				$this->hostname .= ";charset={$this->char_set}";
+			}
+			
 			//Set the charset with the connection options
 			$this->options['PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND'] = "SET NAMES {$this->char_set}";
 		}
@@ -236,7 +242,7 @@
 		// 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.
-		$this->_trans_failure = ($test_mode === TRUE) ? TRUE : FALSE;
+		$this->_trans_failure = (bool) ($test_mode === TRUE);
 
 		return $this->conn_id->beginTransaction();
 	}