diff --git a/libraries/dbi/mysqli.dbi.lib.php b/libraries/dbi/mysqli.dbi.lib.php
index 3d8a2e28c2..dcec04c546 100644
--- a/libraries/dbi/mysqli.dbi.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/dbi/mysqli.dbi.lib.php
@@ -66,8 +66,11 @@ function PMA_DBI_real_connect($link, $host, $user, $password, $dbname, $server_p
 {
     global $cfg;
 
-    if ($cfg['PersistentConnections'] || $persistent) {
-        $host = 'p:' . $host;
+    // mysqli persistent connections only on PHP 5.3+
+    if (PMA_PHP_INT_VERSION >= 50300) {
+        if ($cfg['PersistentConnections'] || $persistent) {
+            $host = 'p:' . $host;
+        }
     }
     if ($client_flags === null) {
         return @mysqli_real_connect(