diff --git a/conf/default.conf.php b/conf/default.conf.php
index 977230ead1..b2e06c998b 100644
--- a/conf/default.conf.php
+++ b/conf/default.conf.php
@@ -120,6 +120,11 @@ return array(
   // The number of times to try reconnecting to the MySQL database
   'mysql.connection-retries' => 3,
 
+  // Phabricator supports PHP extensions MySQL and MySQLi. It is possible to
+  // implement also other access mechanism (e.g. PDO_MySQL). The class must
+  // extend AphrontMySQLDatabaseConnectionBase.
+  'mysql.implementation' => 'AphrontMySQLDatabaseConnection',
+
 
 // -- Email ----------------------------------------------------------------- //
 
diff --git a/scripts/sql/upgrade_schema.php b/scripts/sql/upgrade_schema.php
index 8426e8dfc1..d486d5a7c0 100755
--- a/scripts/sql/upgrade_schema.php
+++ b/scripts/sql/upgrade_schema.php
@@ -83,12 +83,15 @@ if ($uri->getPort()) {
   $conn_bare_hostname = $conn_host;
 }
 
-$conn = new AphrontMySQLDatabaseConnection(
+$conn = PhabricatorEnv::newObjectFromConfig(
+  'mysql.implementation',
   array(
-    'user'      => $conn_user,
-    'pass'      => $conn_pass,
-    'host'      => $conn_host,
-    'database'  => null,
+    array(
+      'user'      => $conn_user,
+      'pass'      => $conn_pass,
+      'host'      => $conn_host,
+      'database'  => null,
+    ),
   ));
 
 try {
diff --git a/src/aphront/console/plugin/services/DarkConsoleServicesPlugin.php b/src/aphront/console/plugin/services/DarkConsoleServicesPlugin.php
index 4170562081..6bcc868940 100644
--- a/src/aphront/console/plugin/services/DarkConsoleServicesPlugin.php
+++ b/src/aphront/console/plugin/services/DarkConsoleServicesPlugin.php
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@ final class DarkConsoleServicesPlugin extends DarkConsolePlugin {
       // For each SELECT query, go issue an EXPLAIN on it so we can flag stuff
       // causing table scans, etc.
       if (preg_match('/^\s*SELECT\b/i', $entry['query'])) {
-        $conn = new AphrontMySQLDatabaseConnection($entry['config']);
+        $conn = PhabricatorEnv::newObjectFromConfig(
+          'mysql.implementation',
+          array($entry['config']));
         try {
           $explain = queryfx_all(
             $conn,
diff --git a/src/aphront/console/plugin/services/__init__.php b/src/aphront/console/plugin/services/__init__.php
index 25f0cd604b..de7a6e3a1e 100644
--- a/src/aphront/console/plugin/services/__init__.php
+++ b/src/aphront/console/plugin/services/__init__.php
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'aphront/console/plugin/base');
-phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'storage/connection/mysql/mysql');
+phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'infrastructure/env');
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'storage/queryfx');
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'view/control/table');
 
diff --git a/src/applications/base/storage/lisk/PhabricatorLiskDAO.php b/src/applications/base/storage/lisk/PhabricatorLiskDAO.php
index 826a70cfb4..87444bd63d 100644
--- a/src/applications/base/storage/lisk/PhabricatorLiskDAO.php
+++ b/src/applications/base/storage/lisk/PhabricatorLiskDAO.php
@@ -71,12 +71,15 @@ abstract class PhabricatorLiskDAO extends LiskDAO {
     PhutilSymbolLoader::loadClass($conf_provider);
     $conf = newv($conf_provider, array($this, $mode));
 
-    return new AphrontMySQLDatabaseConnection(
+    return PhabricatorEnv::newObjectFromConfig(
+      'mysql.implementation',
       array(
-        'user'      => $conf->getUser(),
-        'pass'      => $conf->getPassword(),
-        'host'      => $conf->getHost(),
-        'database'  => $conf->getDatabase(),
+        array(
+          'user'      => $conf->getUser(),
+          'pass'      => $conf->getPassword(),
+          'host'      => $conf->getHost(),
+          'database'  => $conf->getDatabase(),
+        ),
       ));
   }
 
diff --git a/src/applications/base/storage/lisk/__init__.php b/src/applications/base/storage/lisk/__init__.php
index 961bf49871..a7dd876de9 100644
--- a/src/applications/base/storage/lisk/__init__.php
+++ b/src/applications/base/storage/lisk/__init__.php
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 
 
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'infrastructure/env');
-phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'storage/connection/mysql/mysql');
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'storage/lisk/dao');
 
 phutil_require_module('phutil', 'symbols');
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/env/PhabricatorEnv.php b/src/infrastructure/env/PhabricatorEnv.php
index 8dd48c779c..4812b22c34 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/env/PhabricatorEnv.php
+++ b/src/infrastructure/env/PhabricatorEnv.php
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ final class PhabricatorEnv {
         'AphrontApplicationConfiguration',
       'controller.oauth-registration' =>
         'PhabricatorOAuthRegistrationController',
+      'mysql.implementation' => 'AphrontMySQLDatabaseConnectionBase',
       'differential.attach-task-class' => 'DifferentialTasksAttacher',
     );
   }
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/setup/PhabricatorSetup.php b/src/infrastructure/setup/PhabricatorSetup.php
index 7a841228e5..024e395092 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/setup/PhabricatorSetup.php
+++ b/src/infrastructure/setup/PhabricatorSetup.php
@@ -473,12 +473,15 @@ final class PhabricatorSetup {
 
     ini_set('mysql.connect_timeout', 2);
 
-    $conn_raw = new AphrontMySQLDatabaseConnection(
+    $conn_raw = PhabricatorEnv::newObjectFromConfig(
+      'mysql.implementation',
       array(
-        'user'      => $conn_user,
-        'pass'      => $conn_pass,
-        'host'      => $conn_host,
-        'database'  => null,
+        array(
+          'user'      => $conn_user,
+          'pass'      => $conn_pass,
+          'host'      => $conn_host,
+          'database'  => null,
+        ),
       ));
 
     try {
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/setup/__init__.php b/src/infrastructure/setup/__init__.php
index b77bda138c..56b5f72d2e 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/setup/__init__.php
+++ b/src/infrastructure/setup/__init__.php
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'applications/base/storage/configuration');
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'infrastructure/env');
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'infrastructure/setup/sql');
-phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'storage/connection/mysql/mysql');
 phutil_require_module('phabricator', 'storage/queryfx');
 
 phutil_require_module('phutil', 'filesystem');
diff --git a/webroot/index.php b/webroot/index.php
index 49aa7ab4b6..7c8153e7b8 100644
--- a/webroot/index.php
+++ b/webroot/index.php
@@ -46,11 +46,6 @@ if (!$env) {
     "is one of 'development', 'production', or a custom environment.");
 }
 
-if (!function_exists('mysql_connect')) {
-  phabricator_fatal_config_error(
-    "The PHP MySQL extension is not installed. This extension is required.");
-}
-
 if (!isset($_REQUEST['__path__'])) {
   phabricator_fatal_config_error(
     "__path__ is not set. Your rewrite rules are not configured correctly.");