diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/schema.php b/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
index bba0871d63..9d33f0e009 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
@@ -17,12 +17,7 @@ global $wpdb, $wp_queries, $charset_collate;
  * @global string
  * @name $charset_collate
  */
-$charset_collate = '';
-
-if ( ! empty( $wpdb->charset ) )
-	$charset_collate = "DEFAULT CHARACTER SET $wpdb->charset";
-if ( ! empty( $wpdb->collate ) )
-	$charset_collate .= " COLLATE $wpdb->collate";
+$charset_collate = $wpdb->get_charset_collate();
 
 /**
  * Retrieve the SQL for creating database tables.
diff --git a/wp-includes/wp-db.php b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
index cc47d0fb9a..e74e4ebce2 100644
--- a/wp-includes/wp-db.php
+++ b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
@@ -1559,6 +1559,24 @@ class wpdb {
 		return $this->has_cap( 'collation' );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * The database character collate.
+	 *
+	 * @since 3.5.0
+	 *
+	 * @return string The database character collate.
+	 */
+	public function get_charset_collate() {
+		$charset_collate = '';
+
+		if ( ! empty( $this->charset ) )
+			$charset_collate = "DEFAULT CHARACTER SET $this->charset";
+		if ( ! empty( $this->collate ) )
+			$charset_collate .= " COLLATE $this->collate";
+
+		return $charset_collate;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Determine if a database supports a particular feature
 	 *