diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Connection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Connection.php
index 5b16086..2387bd9 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Connection.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
  *
  * @see http://php.net/manual/book.pdo.php
  */
-abstract class Connection extends PDO {
+abstract class Connection {
 
   /**
    * The database target this connection is for.
@@ -135,20 +135,33 @@
    */
   protected $prefixReplace = array();
 
-  function __construct($dsn, $username, $password, $driver_options = array()) {
+  /**
+   * The actual PDO connection.
+   *
+   * @var \PDO
+   */
+  protected $connection;
+
+  /**
+   * Constructs a Connection object.
+   */
+  public function __construct(PDO $connection, array $connection_options) {
     // Initialize and prepare the connection prefix.
     $this->setPrefix(isset($this->connectionOptions['prefix']) ? $this->connectionOptions['prefix'] : '');
 
-    // Because the other methods don't seem to work right.
-    $driver_options[PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE] = PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION;
-
-    // Call PDO::__construct and PDO::setAttribute.
-    parent::__construct($dsn, $username, $password, $driver_options);
-
     // Set a Statement class, unless the driver opted out.
     if (!empty($this->statementClass)) {
-      $this->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_STATEMENT_CLASS, array($this->statementClass, array($this)));
+      $connection->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_STATEMENT_CLASS, array($this->statementClass, array($this)));
     }
+
+    $this->connection = $connection;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Opens a PDO connection.
+   */
+  public static function open(array &$connection_options = array()) {
+    // @TODO WHy is there no abstract for static methods.
   }
 
   /**
@@ -163,7 +176,7 @@ public function destroy() {
     // Destroy all references to this connection by setting them to NULL.
     // The Statement class attribute only accepts a new value that presents a
     // proper callable, so we reset it to PDOStatement.
-    $this->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_STATEMENT_CLASS, array('PDOStatement', array()));
+    $this->connection->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_STATEMENT_CLASS, array('PDOStatement', array()));
     $this->schema = NULL;
   }
 
@@ -319,7 +332,7 @@ public function prepareQuery($query) {
     $query = $this->prefixTables($query);
 
     // Call PDO::prepare.
-    return parent::prepare($query);
+    return $this->connection->prepare($query);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -532,7 +545,7 @@ public function query($query, array $args = array(), $options = array()) {
         case Database::RETURN_AFFECTED:
           return $stmt->rowCount();
         case Database::RETURN_INSERT_ID:
-          return $this->lastInsertId();
+          return $this->connection->lastInsertId();
         case Database::RETURN_NULL:
           return;
         default:
@@ -921,7 +934,7 @@ public function rollback($savepoint_name = 'drupal_transaction') {
         $rolled_back_other_active_savepoints = TRUE;
       }
     }
-    parent::rollBack();
+    $this->connection->rollBack();
     if ($rolled_back_other_active_savepoints) {
       throw new TransactionOutOfOrderException();
     }
@@ -949,7 +962,7 @@ public function pushTransaction($name) {
       $this->query('SAVEPOINT ' . $name);
     }
     else {
-      parent::beginTransaction();
+      $this->connection->beginTransaction();
     }
     $this->transactionLayers[$name] = $name;
   }
@@ -1000,7 +1013,7 @@ protected function popCommittableTransactions() {
       // If there are no more layers left then we should commit.
       unset($this->transactionLayers[$name]);
       if (empty($this->transactionLayers)) {
-        if (!parent::commit()) {
+        if (!$this->connection->commit()) {
           throw new TransactionCommitFailedException();
         }
       }
@@ -1084,7 +1097,7 @@ protected function generateTemporaryTableName() {
    * Returns the version of the database server.
    */
   public function version() {
-    return $this->getAttribute(PDO::ATTR_SERVER_VERSION);
+    return $this->connection->getAttribute(PDO::ATTR_SERVER_VERSION);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Database.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Database.php
index a54c9cb..5ae4baf 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Database.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Database.php
@@ -381,7 +381,10 @@ public static function addConnectionInfo($key, $target, $info) {
       // Fallback for Drupal 7 settings.php.
       $driver_class = "Drupal\\Core\\Database\\Driver\\{$driver}\\Connection";
     }
-    $new_connection = new $driver_class(self::$databaseInfo[$key][$target]);
+
+    $connection_info =& self::$databaseInfo[$key][$target];
+    $pdo_connection = $driver_class::open($connection_info);
+    $new_connection = new $driver_class($pdo_connection, self::$databaseInfo[$key][$target]);
     $new_connection->setTarget($target);
     $new_connection->setKey($key);
 
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php
index 128780f..06cce2c 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php
@@ -36,7 +36,12 @@ class Connection extends DatabaseConnection {
    */
   protected $needsCleanup = FALSE;
 
-  public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
+  /**
+   * Constructs a Connection object.
+   */
+  public function __construct(PDO $connection, array $connection_options = array()) {
+    parent::__construct($connection, $connection_options);
+
     // This driver defaults to transaction support, except if explicitly passed FALSE.
     $this->transactionSupport = !isset($connection_options['transactions']) || ($connection_options['transactions'] !== FALSE);
 
@@ -44,7 +49,12 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
     $this->transactionalDDLSupport = FALSE;
 
     $this->connectionOptions = $connection_options;
+  }
 
+  /**
+   * Overrides Connection::open().
+   */
+  public static function open(array &$connection_options = array()) {
     // The DSN should use either a socket or a host/port.
     if (isset($connection_options['unix_socket'])) {
       $dsn = 'mysql:unix_socket=' . $connection_options['unix_socket'];
@@ -67,16 +77,16 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
       PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => TRUE,
     );
 
-    parent::__construct($dsn, $connection_options['username'], $connection_options['password'], $connection_options['pdo']);
+    $pdo = new PDO($dsn, $connection_options['username'], $connection_options['password'], $connection_options['pdo']);
 
     // Force MySQL to use the UTF-8 character set. Also set the collation, if a
     // certain one has been set; otherwise, MySQL defaults to 'utf8_general_ci'
     // for UTF-8.
     if (!empty($connection_options['collation'])) {
-      $this->exec('SET NAMES utf8 COLLATE ' . $connection_options['collation']);
+      $pdo->exec('SET NAMES utf8 COLLATE ' . $connection_options['collation']);
     }
     else {
-      $this->exec('SET NAMES utf8');
+      $pdo->exec('SET NAMES utf8');
     }
 
     // Set MySQL init_commands if not already defined.  Default Drupal's MySQL
@@ -94,7 +104,9 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
       'sql_mode' => "SET sql_mode = 'ANSI,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,STRICT_ALL_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER'",
     );
     // Set connection options.
-    $this->exec(implode('; ', $connection_options['init_commands']));
+    $pdo->exec(implode('; ', $connection_options['init_commands']));
+
+    return $pdo;
   }
 
   public function __destruct() {
@@ -135,8 +147,8 @@ public function createDatabase($database) {
 
     try {
       // Create the database and set it as active.
-      $this->exec("CREATE DATABASE $database");
-      $this->exec("USE $database");
+      $this->connection->exec("CREATE DATABASE $database");
+      $this->connection->exec("USE $database");
     }
     catch (\Exception $e) {
       throw new DatabaseNotFoundException($e->getMessage());
@@ -204,7 +216,7 @@ protected function popCommittableTransactions() {
       // If there are no more layers left then we should commit.
       unset($this->transactionLayers[$name]);
       if (empty($this->transactionLayers)) {
-        if (!PDO::commit()) {
+        if (!$this->connection->commit()) {
           throw new TransactionCommitFailedException();
         }
       }
@@ -227,7 +239,7 @@ protected function popCommittableTransactions() {
             $this->transactionLayers = array();
             // We also have to explain to PDO that the transaction stack has
             // been cleaned-up.
-            PDO::commit();
+            $this->connection->commit();
           }
           else {
             throw $e;
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php
index 4fd7d0d..3de55f6 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php
@@ -34,7 +34,12 @@ class Connection extends DatabaseConnection {
    */
   const DATABASE_NOT_FOUND = 7;
 
-  public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
+  /**
+   * Constructs a connection object.
+   */
+  public function __construct(PDO $connection, array $connection_options) {
+    parent::__construct($connection, $connection_options);
+
     // This driver defaults to transaction support, except if explicitly passed FALSE.
     $this->transactionSupport = !isset($connection_options['transactions']) || ($connection_options['transactions'] !== FALSE);
 
@@ -42,6 +47,19 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
     // but we'll only enable it if standard transactions are.
     $this->transactionalDDLSupport = $this->transactionSupport;
 
+    $this->connectionOptions = $connection_options;
+
+
+    // Force PostgreSQL to use the UTF-8 character set by default.
+    $this->connection->exec("SET NAMES 'UTF8'");
+
+    // Execute PostgreSQL init_commands.
+    if (isset($connection_options['init_commands'])) {
+      $this->connection->exec(implode('; ', $connection_options['init_commands']));
+    }
+  }
+
+  public static function open(array &$connection_options = array()) {
     // Default to TCP connection on port 5432.
     if (empty($connection_options['port'])) {
       $connection_options['port'] = 5432;
@@ -61,8 +79,6 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
       $connection_options['password'] = str_replace('\\', '\\\\', $connection_options['password']);
     }
 
-    $this->connectionOptions = $connection_options;
-
     $connection_options['database'] = (!empty($connection_options['database']) ? $connection_options['database'] : 'template1');
     $dsn = 'pgsql:host=' . $connection_options['host'] . ' dbname=' . $connection_options['database'] . ' port=' . $connection_options['port'];
 
@@ -81,17 +97,12 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
       // Convert numeric values to strings when fetching.
       PDO::ATTR_STRINGIFY_FETCHES => TRUE,
     );
-    parent::__construct($dsn, $connection_options['username'], $connection_options['password'], $connection_options['pdo']);
-
-    // Force PostgreSQL to use the UTF-8 character set by default.
-    $this->exec("SET NAMES 'UTF8'");
+    $pdo = new PDO($dsn, $connection_options['username'], $connection_options['password'], $connection_options['pdo']);
 
-    // Execute PostgreSQL init_commands.
-    if (isset($connection_options['init_commands'])) {
-      $this->exec(implode('; ', $connection_options['init_commands']));
-    }
+    return $pdo;
   }
 
+
   public function query($query, array $args = array(), $options = array()) {
 
     $options += $this->defaultOptions();
@@ -124,7 +135,7 @@ public function query($query, array $args = array(), $options = array()) {
         case Database::RETURN_AFFECTED:
           return $stmt->rowCount();
         case Database::RETURN_INSERT_ID:
-          return $this->lastInsertId($options['sequence_name']);
+          return $this->connection->lastInsertId($options['sequence_name']);
         case Database::RETURN_NULL:
           return;
         default:
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/sqlite/Connection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/sqlite/Connection.php
index abda556..6e0ebf6 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/sqlite/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/sqlite/Connection.php
@@ -66,7 +66,9 @@ class Connection extends DatabaseConnection {
    */
   var $tableDropped = FALSE;
 
-  public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
+  public function __construct(PDO $connection, array $connection_options) {
+    parent::__construct($connection, $connection_options);
+
     // We don't need a specific PDOStatement class here, we simulate it below.
     $this->statementClass = NULL;
 
@@ -75,16 +77,6 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
 
     $this->connectionOptions = $connection_options;
 
-    // Allow PDO options to be overridden.
-    $connection_options += array(
-      'pdo' => array(),
-    );
-    $connection_options['pdo'] += array(
-      // Convert numeric values to strings when fetching.
-      PDO::ATTR_STRINGIFY_FETCHES => TRUE,
-    );
-    parent::__construct('sqlite:' . $connection_options['database'], '', '', $connection_options['pdo']);
-
     // Attach one database for each registered prefix.
     $prefixes = $this->prefixes;
     foreach ($prefixes as $table => &$prefix) {
@@ -95,7 +87,6 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
           $this->attachedDatabases[$prefix] = $prefix;
           $this->query('ATTACH DATABASE :database AS :prefix', array(':database' => $connection_options['database'] . '-' . $prefix, ':prefix' => $prefix));
         }
-
         // Add a ., so queries become prefix.table, which is proper syntax for
         // querying an attached database.
         $prefix .= '.';
@@ -107,24 +98,42 @@ public function __construct(array $connection_options = array()) {
     // Detect support for SAVEPOINT.
     $version = $this->query('SELECT sqlite_version()')->fetchField();
     $this->savepointSupport = (version_compare($version, '3.6.8') >= 0);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Overrides Connection::open().
+   */
+  public static function open(array &$connection_options = array()) {
+    // Allow PDO options to be overridden.
+    $connection_options += array(
+      'pdo' => array(),
+    );
+    $connection_options['pdo'] += array(
+      // Convert numeric values to strings when fetching.
+      PDO::ATTR_STRINGIFY_FETCHES => TRUE,
+    );
+    $pdo = new PDO('sqlite:' . $connection_options['database'], '', '', $connection_options['pdo']);
 
     // Create functions needed by SQLite.
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('if', array($this, 'sqlFunctionIf'));
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('greatest', array($this, 'sqlFunctionGreatest'));
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('pow', 'pow', 2);
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('length', 'strlen', 1);
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('md5', 'md5', 1);
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('concat', array($this, 'sqlFunctionConcat'));
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('substring', array($this, 'sqlFunctionSubstring'), 3);
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('substring_index', array($this, 'sqlFunctionSubstringIndex'), 3);
-    $this->sqliteCreateFunction('rand', array($this, 'sqlFunctionRand'));
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('if', array($this, 'sqlFunctionIf'));
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('greatest', array($this, 'sqlFunctionGreatest'));
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('pow', 'pow', 2);
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('length', 'strlen', 1);
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('md5', 'md5', 1);
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('concat', array($this, 'sqlFunctionConcat'));
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('substring', array($this, 'sqlFunctionSubstring'), 3);
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('substring_index', array($this, 'sqlFunctionSubstringIndex'), 3);
+    $pdo->sqliteCreateFunction('rand', array($this, 'sqlFunctionRand'));
 
     // Execute sqlite init_commands.
     if (isset($connection_options['init_commands'])) {
-      $this->exec(implode('; ', $connection_options['init_commands']));
+      $pdo->exec(implode('; ', $connection_options['init_commands']));
     }
+
+    return $pdo;
   }
 
+
   /**
    * Destructor for the SQLite connection.
    *
@@ -247,7 +256,7 @@ public function prepare($query, $options = array()) {
    * the world.
    */
   public function PDOPrepare($query, array $options = array()) {
-    return parent::prepare($query, $options);
+    return $this->connection->prepare($query, $options);
   }
 
   public function queryRange($query, $from, $count, array $args = array(), array $options = array()) {
@@ -326,7 +335,7 @@ public function nextId($existing_id = 0) {
 
   public function rollback($savepoint_name = 'drupal_transaction') {
     if ($this->savepointSupport) {
-      return parent::rollBack($savepoint_name);
+      return $this->connection->rollBack($savepoint_name);
     }
 
     if (!$this->inTransaction()) {
@@ -354,13 +363,13 @@ public function rollback($savepoint_name = 'drupal_transaction') {
       }
     }
     if ($this->supportsTransactions()) {
-      PDO::rollBack();
+      $this->connection->rollBack();
     }
   }
 
   public function pushTransaction($name) {
     if ($this->savepointSupport) {
-      return parent::pushTransaction($name);
+      return $this->connection->pushTransaction($name);
     }
     if (!$this->supportsTransactions()) {
       return;
@@ -369,14 +378,14 @@ public function pushTransaction($name) {
       throw new TransactionNameNonUniqueException($name . " is already in use.");
     }
     if (!$this->inTransaction()) {
-      PDO::beginTransaction();
+      $this->connection->beginTransaction();
     }
     $this->transactionLayers[$name] = $name;
   }
 
   public function popTransaction($name) {
     if ($this->savepointSupport) {
-      return parent::popTransaction($name);
+      return $this->connection->popTransaction($name);
     }
     if (!$this->supportsTransactions()) {
       return;
@@ -394,9 +403,9 @@ public function popTransaction($name) {
         // If there was any rollback() we should roll back whole transaction.
         if ($this->willRollback) {
           $this->willRollback = FALSE;
-          PDO::rollBack();
+          $this->connection->rollBack();
         }
-        elseif (!PDO::commit()) {
+        elseif (!$this->connection->commit()) {
           throw new TransactionCommitFailedException();
         }
       }