diff --git a/core/model/MySQLDatabase.php b/core/model/MySQLDatabase.php
index 428c57a00..658c0e34c 100755
--- a/core/model/MySQLDatabase.php
+++ b/core/model/MySQLDatabase.php
@@ -100,7 +100,11 @@ class MySQLDatabase extends SS_Database {
 	 */
 	public function getVersion() {
 		if(!$this->mysqlVersion) {
-			$this->mysqlVersion = (float)substr(trim(ereg_replace("([A-Za-z-])", "", $this->query("SELECT VERSION()")->value())), 0, 3);
+			$this->mysqlVersion = @mysql_get_server_info($this->dbConn);
+			// fallback to query if function doesn't give anything
+			if(!$this->mysqlVersion) {
+				$this->mysqlVersion = (float)substr(trim(ereg_replace("([A-Za-z-])", "", $this->query("SELECT VERSION()")->value())), 0, 3);
+			}
 		}
 		return $this->mysqlVersion;
 	}