diff --git a/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/BinlogReader.java b/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/BinlogReader.java
index 7bb93b703..417af587b 100644
--- a/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/BinlogReader.java
+++ b/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/BinlogReader.java
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ protected void doStart() {
 
         // Get the current GtidSet from MySQL so we can get a filtered/merged GtidSet based off of the last Debezium checkpoint.
         String availableServerGtidStr = connectionContext.knownGtidSet();
-        if (availableServerGtidStr != null && !availableServerGtidStr.trim().isEmpty()) {
+        if (connectionContext.isGtidModeEnabled()) {
             // The server is using GTIDs, so enable the handler ...
             eventHandlers.put(EventType.GTID, this::handleGtidEvent);
 
diff --git a/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/MySqlConnectorTask.java b/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/MySqlConnectorTask.java
index 8f057d407..0e972753c 100644
--- a/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/MySqlConnectorTask.java
+++ b/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/MySqlConnectorTask.java
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ public synchronized void start(Configuration config) {
                 }
             }
 
-            if (!startWithSnapshot && source.gtidSet() == null && isGtidModeEnabled()) {
+            if (!startWithSnapshot && source.gtidSet() == null && connectionContext.isGtidModeEnabled()) {
                 // The snapshot will properly determine the GTID set, but we're not starting with a snapshot and GTIDs were not
                 // previously used but the MySQL server has them enabled ...
                 source.setCompletedGtidSet("");
@@ -364,26 +364,6 @@ protected String earliestBinlogFilename() {
         return logNames.get(0);
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Determine whether the MySQL server has GTIDs enabled.
-     *
-     * @return {@code false} if the server's {@code gtid_mode} is set and is {@code OFF}, or {@code true} otherwise
-     */
-    protected boolean isGtidModeEnabled() {
-        AtomicReference<String> mode = new AtomicReference<String>("off");
-        try {
-            connectionContext.jdbc().query("SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE 'GTID_MODE'", rs -> {
-                if (rs.next()) {
-                    mode.set(rs.getString(2));
-                }
-            });
-        } catch (SQLException e) {
-            throw new ConnectException("Unexpected error while connecting to MySQL and looking at GTID mode: ", e);
-        }
-
-        return !"OFF".equalsIgnoreCase(mode.get());
-    }
-
     /**
      * Determine whether the MySQL server has the row-level binlog enabled.
      *
diff --git a/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/MySqlJdbcContext.java b/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/MySqlJdbcContext.java
index 382c77cb5..6ad812998 100644
--- a/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/MySqlJdbcContext.java
+++ b/debezium-connector-mysql/src/main/java/io/debezium/connector/mysql/MySqlJdbcContext.java
@@ -156,6 +156,26 @@ public void close() {
         shutdown();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Determine whether the MySQL server has GTIDs enabled.
+     *
+     * @return {@code false} if the server's {@code gtid_mode} is set and is {@code OFF}, or {@code true} otherwise
+     */
+    public boolean isGtidModeEnabled() {
+        AtomicReference<String> mode = new AtomicReference<String>("off");
+        try {
+            jdbc().query("SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE 'GTID_MODE'", rs -> {
+                if (rs.next()) {
+                    mode.set(rs.getString(2));
+                }
+            });
+        } catch (SQLException e) {
+            throw new ConnectException("Unexpected error while connecting to MySQL and looking at GTID mode: ", e);
+        }
+
+        return !"OFF".equalsIgnoreCase(mode.get());
+    }
+
     /**
      * Determine the available GTID set for MySQL.
      *