diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Connection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Connection.php
index d424f55..66a4143 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Connection.php
@@ -331,8 +331,7 @@ public function tablePrefix($table = 'default') {
   public function prepareQuery($query) {
     $query = $this->prefixTables($query);
 
-    // Call PDO::prepare.
-    return $this->connection->prepare($query);
+    return \PDO::prepare($query);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -934,7 +933,7 @@ public function rollback($savepoint_name = 'drupal_transaction') {
         $rolled_back_other_active_savepoints = TRUE;
       }
     }
-    $this->connection->rollBack();
+    \PDO::rollBack();
     if ($rolled_back_other_active_savepoints) {
       throw new TransactionOutOfOrderException();
     }
@@ -962,7 +961,7 @@ public function pushTransaction($name) {
       $this->query('SAVEPOINT ' . $name);
     }
     else {
-      $this->connection->beginTransaction();
+      \PDO::beginTransaction();
     }
     $this->transactionLayers[$name] = $name;
   }
@@ -1013,7 +1012,7 @@ protected function popCommittableTransactions() {
       // If there are no more layers left then we should commit.
       unset($this->transactionLayers[$name]);
       if (empty($this->transactionLayers)) {
-        if (!$this->connection->commit()) {
+        if (!PDO::commit()) {
           throw new TransactionCommitFailedException();
         }
       }
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Database.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Database.php
index 5ae4baf..d6c28ca 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Database.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Database.php
@@ -382,8 +382,7 @@ public static function addConnectionInfo($key, $target, $info) {
       $driver_class = "Drupal\\Core\\Database\\Driver\\{$driver}\\Connection";
     }
 
-    $connection_info =& self::$databaseInfo[$key][$target];
-    $pdo_connection = $driver_class::open($connection_info);
+    $pdo_connection = $driver_class::open(self::$databaseInfo[$key][$target]);
     $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 06cce2c..ba61248 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ protected function popCommittableTransactions() {
       // If there are no more layers left then we should commit.
       unset($this->transactionLayers[$name]);
       if (empty($this->transactionLayers)) {
-        if (!$this->connection->commit()) {
+        if (!PDO::commit()) {
           throw new TransactionCommitFailedException();
         }
       }
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ protected function popCommittableTransactions() {
             $this->transactionLayers = array();
             // We also have to explain to PDO that the transaction stack has
             // been cleaned-up.
-            $this->connection->commit();
+            PDO::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 3de55f6..c1d211b 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ public function __construct(PDO $connection, array $connection_options) {
 
     $this->connectionOptions = $connection_options;
 
-
     // Force PostgreSQL to use the UTF-8 character set by default.
     $this->connection->exec("SET NAMES 'UTF8'");
 
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/sqlite/Connection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/sqlite/Connection.php
index 6e0ebf6..4b7915c 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/sqlite/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/sqlite/Connection.php
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ public function __construct(PDO $connection, array $connection_options) {
           $this->attachedDatabases[$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.
         $prefix .= '.';
@@ -256,7 +257,7 @@ public function prepare($query, $options = array()) {
    * the world.
    */
   public function PDOPrepare($query, array $options = array()) {
-    return $this->connection->prepare($query, $options);
+    return \PDO::prepare($query, $options);
   }
 
   public function queryRange($query, $from, $count, array $args = array(), array $options = array()) {
@@ -335,7 +336,7 @@ public function nextId($existing_id = 0) {
 
   public function rollback($savepoint_name = 'drupal_transaction') {
     if ($this->savepointSupport) {
-      return $this->connection->rollBack($savepoint_name);
+      return \PDO::rollBack($savepoint_name);
     }
 
     if (!$this->inTransaction()) {
@@ -363,13 +364,13 @@ public function rollback($savepoint_name = 'drupal_transaction') {
       }
     }
     if ($this->supportsTransactions()) {
-      $this->connection->rollBack();
+      PDO::rollBack();
     }
   }
 
   public function pushTransaction($name) {
     if ($this->savepointSupport) {
-      return $this->connection->pushTransaction($name);
+      return \PDO::pushTransaction($name);
     }
     if (!$this->supportsTransactions()) {
       return;
@@ -378,14 +379,14 @@ public function pushTransaction($name) {
       throw new TransactionNameNonUniqueException($name . " is already in use.");
     }
     if (!$this->inTransaction()) {
-      $this->connection->beginTransaction();
+      PDO::beginTransaction();
     }
     $this->transactionLayers[$name] = $name;
   }
 
   public function popTransaction($name) {
     if ($this->savepointSupport) {
-      return $this->connection->popTransaction($name);
+      return \PDO::popTransaction($name);
     }
     if (!$this->supportsTransactions()) {
       return;
@@ -403,9 +404,9 @@ public function popTransaction($name) {
         // If there was any rollback() we should roll back whole transaction.
         if ($this->willRollback) {
           $this->willRollback = FALSE;
-          $this->connection->rollBack();
+          PDO::rollBack();
         }
-        elseif (!$this->connection->commit()) {
+        elseif (!PDO::commit()) {
           throw new TransactionCommitFailedException();
         }
       }