diff --git a/conf/ConfigureFromEnv.php b/conf/ConfigureFromEnv.php
index 3575f4636..cf86b1a5a 100644
--- a/conf/ConfigureFromEnv.php
+++ b/conf/ConfigureFromEnv.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
  * - SS_DATABASE_SSL_KEY:		Path to SSL private key file
  * - SS_DATABASE_SSL_CERT:		Path to SSL certificate file
  * - SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA:		Path to SSL CA file
- * - SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER: 	Alternative cipher (defaults to DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA)
+ * - SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER: 	Override default cipher (defaults are set per database connector)
  *
  *
  * There is one more setting that is intended to be used by people who work on SilverStripe.
@@ -125,24 +125,29 @@ if(defined('SS_DATABASE_USERNAME') && defined('SS_DATABASE_PASSWORD')) {
 	if(defined('SS_DATABASE_MEMORY'))
 		$databaseConfig["memory"] = SS_DATABASE_MEMORY;
 
-	// PDO MySQL SSL parameters
-	if(defined('SS_DATABASE_CLASS') && SS_DATABASE_CLASS === 'MySQLPDODatabase') {
+	// Add ssl parameters to databaseConfig if these are defined
+	if(
+		defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_KEY') && 
+		defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CERT')
+		) {
 
-		// add ssl parameters if these are defined
-		if(
-			defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_KEY') && 
-			defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CERT') &&
-			defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA')
-			) {
+		$databaseConfig['ssl_key'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_KEY;
+		$databaseConfig['ssl_cert'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CERT;
 
-			$databaseConfig['ssl_key'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_KEY;
-			$databaseConfig['ssl_cert'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CERT;
-			$databaseConfig['ssl_ca'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA;
-			$databaseConfig['ssl_cipher'] = defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER') ? SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER : 'DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA';
-
-		}
 	}
 
+	// Some databases do not require a CA so this is optional
+	if(defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA')) {
+		$databaseConfig['ssl_ca'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA;		
+	}
+
+	// Cipher defaults should be set per connector
+	if(defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER')) {
+		$databaseConfig['ssl_cipher'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER;
+	}
+
+
+
 }
 
 if(defined('SS_SEND_ALL_EMAILS_TO')) {
diff --git a/dev/install/MySQLDatabaseConfigurationHelper.php b/dev/install/MySQLDatabaseConfigurationHelper.php
index 86f7ff6e5..8815fcc03 100644
--- a/dev/install/MySQLDatabaseConfigurationHelper.php
+++ b/dev/install/MySQLDatabaseConfigurationHelper.php
@@ -37,21 +37,25 @@ class MySQLDatabaseConfigurationHelper implements DatabaseConfigurationHelper {
 				case 'MySQLPDODatabase':
 					// May throw a PDOException if fails
 
+					// Set SSL parameters
 					$ssl = null;
+					$defaultCipher = 'DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA';
 
 					if(
 						array_key_exists('ssl_key', $databaseConfig) &&
-						array_key_exists('ssl_cert', $databaseConfig) &&
-						array_key_exists('ssl_ca', $databaseConfig) &&
-						array_key_exists('ssl_cipher', $databaseConfig)) {
+						array_key_exists('ssl_cert', $databaseConfig)) {
 
 							$ssl = array(
 								PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_KEY => $databaseConfig['ssl_key'],
 								PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CERT => $databaseConfig['ssl_cert'],
-								PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA => $databaseConfig['ssl_ca'],
-								PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CIPHER => $databaseConfig['ssl_cipher'],
 							);
 
+						if(array_key_exists('ssl_ca', $databaseConfig)) {
+							$ssl[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA] = $databaseConfig['ssl_ca'];
+						}
+
+						// use default cipher if not provided
+						$ssl[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA] = array_key_exists('ssl_ca', $databaseConfig) ? $databaseConfig['ssl_ca'] : $defaultCipher;
 
 					}
 
diff --git a/dev/install/install.php5 b/dev/install/install.php5
index c83f4f5d7..795383727 100755
--- a/dev/install/install.php5
+++ b/dev/install/install.php5
@@ -132,19 +132,25 @@ if(isset($_REQUEST['db'])) {
 			"database" => $_REQUEST['db'][$type]['database'],
 		);
 
+		// Set SSL parameters if they exist
 		if(
 			defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_KEY') && 
-			defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CERT') &&
-			defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA')
+			defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CERT')
 			) {
 
 			$databaseConfig['ssl_key'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_KEY;
 			$databaseConfig['ssl_cert'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CERT;
-			$databaseConfig['ssl_ca'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA;
-			$databaseConfig['ssl_cipher'] = defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER') ? SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER : 'DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA';
 
 		}
 
+		if(defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA')) {
+			$databaseConfig['ssl_ca'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CA;
+		}
+
+		if(defined('SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER')) {
+			$databaseConfig['ssl_cipher'] = SS_DATABASE_SSL_CIPHER;
+		}
+
 
 	} else {
 		// Normal behaviour without the environment
diff --git a/model/connect/PDOConnector.php b/model/connect/PDOConnector.php
index d7e1c00c5..fd5b6d3b8 100644
--- a/model/connect/PDOConnector.php
+++ b/model/connect/PDOConnector.php
@@ -15,6 +15,14 @@ class PDOConnector extends DBConnector {
 	 */
 	private static $emulate_prepare = false;
 
+	/**
+	 * Default strong SSL cipher to be used
+	 *
+	 * @config
+	 * @var boolean
+	 */
+	private static $ssl_cipher_default = 'DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA';
+
 	/**
 	 * The PDO connection instance
 	 *
@@ -160,17 +168,20 @@ class PDOConnector extends DBConnector {
 		if($parameters['driver'] == 'mysql') {
 			$options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND] = 'SET NAMES ' . $charset . ' COLLATE ' . $connCollation;
 
-			// Set SSL options from mysite/_config.php if they exist
+			// Set SSL options if they are defined
 			if(
 				array_key_exists('ssl_key', $parameters) &&
-				array_key_exists('ssl_cert', $parameters) &&
-				array_key_exists('ssl_ca', $parameters) &&
-				array_key_exists('ssl_cipher', $parameters)) {
+				array_key_exists('ssl_cert', $parameters)) {
 
 					$options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_KEY] = $parameters['ssl_key'];
-					$options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CERT] =$parameters['ssl_cert'];
+					$options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CERT] = $parameters['ssl_cert'];
+
+				if(array_key_exists('ssl_ca', $parameters)) {
 					$options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA] = $parameters['ssl_ca'];
-					$options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CIPHER] = $parameters['ssl_cipher'];
+				}
+
+				// use default cipher if not provided
+				$options[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CIPHER] = $parameters['ssl_cipher'] ?: $this->config()->ssl_cipher_default;
 
 			}