diff --git a/prefixdb/db.go b/prefixdb/db.go
index 58dc55e7a..aaebe1a19 100644
--- a/prefixdb/db.go
+++ b/prefixdb/db.go
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ package prefixdb
 import "database/sql/driver"
 
 // New clones a database driver to create a new driver with the property that
-// every statement executed will have the given prefix prepended.
-// This is useful, for instance, to set statement-level variables like
+// every connection created will have a query executed before it is used.
+// This is useful, for instance, to set connection-level variables like
 // max_statement_time and long_query_time.
 func New(prefix string, underlying driver.Driver) driver.Driver {
 	return &prefixedDB{
@@ -23,25 +23,13 @@ func (p *prefixedDB) Open(name string) (driver.Conn, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return &prefixedConn{
-		prefix: p.prefix,
-		conn:   conn,
-	}, nil
-}
-
-type prefixedConn struct {
-	prefix string
-	conn   driver.Conn
-}
-
-func (c *prefixedConn) Prepare(query string) (driver.Stmt, error) {
-	return c.conn.Prepare(c.prefix + " " + query)
-}
-
-func (c *prefixedConn) Close() error {
-	return c.conn.Close()
-}
-
-func (c *prefixedConn) Begin() (driver.Tx, error) {
-	return c.conn.Begin()
+	stmt, err := conn.Prepare(p.prefix)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	_, err = stmt.Exec(nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return conn, nil
 }
diff --git a/prefixdb/db_test.go b/prefixdb/db_test.go
index bbb2d5a9a..d5bbc2cca 100644
--- a/prefixdb/db_test.go
+++ b/prefixdb/db_test.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestPrefixing(t *testing.T) {
-	sql.Register("prefixedmysql", New("SET STATEMENT max_statement_time=0.1 FOR", mysql.MySQLDriver{}))
+	sql.Register("prefixedmysql", New("SET SESSION max_statement_time=0.1", mysql.MySQLDriver{}))
 	db, err := sql.Open("prefixedmysql", vars.DBConnSA)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/sa/database.go b/sa/database.go
index f582ca22b..1e65a5d4f 100644
--- a/sa/database.go
+++ b/sa/database.go
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ func NewDbMapFromConfig(config *mysql.Config, maxOpenConns int) (*gorp.DbMap, er
 	adjustMySQLConfig(config)
 
 	// We always want strict mode. Rather than leaving this up to DB config, we
-	// prefix each statement with it.
-	prefix := "SET STATEMENT sql_mode='STRICT_ALL_TABLES' FOR "
+	// prefix each session with it.
+	prefix := "SET SESSION sql_mode='STRICT_ALL_TABLES'"
 
 	// If a read timeout is set, we set max_statement_time to 95% of that, and
 	// long_query_time to 80% of that. That way we get logs of queries that are
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func NewDbMapFromConfig(config *mysql.Config, maxOpenConns int) (*gorp.DbMap, er
 		// Note: in MySQL (which we don't use), max_statement_time is millis.
 		readTimeout := config.ReadTimeout.Seconds()
 		prefix = fmt.Sprintf(
-			"SET STATEMENT max_statement_time=%g, long_query_time=%g, sql_mode='STRICT_ALL_TABLES' FOR ",
+			"SET SESSION max_statement_time=%g, long_query_time=%g, sql_mode='STRICT_ALL_TABLES'",
 			readTimeout*0.95, readTimeout*0.80)
 	}