diff --git a/wp-includes/update.php b/wp-includes/update.php
index 41d1d7b292..0baa2fa2d3 100644
--- a/wp-includes/update.php
+++ b/wp-includes/update.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ function wp_version_check() {
 	if ( defined('WP_INSTALLING') )
 		return;
 
-	global $wp_version;
+	global $wp_version, $wpdb;
 	$php_version = phpversion();
 
 	$current = get_option( 'update_core' );
@@ -40,7 +40,12 @@ function wp_version_check() {
 	$new_option->last_checked = time(); // this gets set whether we get a response or not, so if something is down or misconfigured it won't delay the page load for more than 3 seconds, twice a day
 	$new_option->version_checked = $wp_version;
 
-	$url = "http://api.wordpress.org/core/version-check/1.2/?version=$wp_version&php=$php_version&locale=$locale";
+	if ( method_exists( $wpdb, 'db_version' ) )
+		$mysql_version = preg_replace('/[^0-9.].*/', '', $wpdb->db_version($wpdb->users));
+	else
+		$mysql_version = 'N/A';
+
+	$url = "http://api.wordpress.org/core/version-check/1.2/?version=$wp_version&php=$php_version&locale=$locale&mysql=$mysql_version";
 
 	$options = array('timeout' => 3);
 	$options['headers'] = array(
diff --git a/wp-includes/wp-db.php b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
index 7b6c6f090f..f14efb1fdf 100644
--- a/wp-includes/wp-db.php
+++ b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
@@ -904,8 +904,7 @@ class wpdb {
 	{
 		global $wp_version;
 		// Make sure the server has MySQL 4.0
-		$mysql_version = preg_replace('|[^0-9\.]|', '', @mysql_get_server_info($this->dbh));
-		if ( version_compare($mysql_version, '4.0.0', '<') )
+		if ( version_compare($this->db_version(), '4.0.0', '<') )
 			return new WP_Error('database_version',sprintf(__('<strong>ERROR</strong>: WordPress %s requires MySQL 4.0.0 or higher'), $wp_version));
 	}
 
@@ -920,7 +919,7 @@ class wpdb {
 	 */
 	function supports_collation()
 	{
-		return ( version_compare(mysql_get_server_info($this->dbh), '4.1.0', '>=') );
+		return ( version_compare($this->db_version(), '4.1.0', '>=') );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -968,6 +967,13 @@ class wpdb {
 		return $caller;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * The database version number
+	 * @return false|string false on failure, version number on success
+	 */
+	function db_version() {
+		return preg_replace('/[^0-9.].*/', '', mysql_get_server_info( $this->dbh ));
+	}
 }
 
 if ( ! isset($wpdb) ) {