diff --git a/includes/database/database.inc b/includes/database/database.inc
index 6879f699..e615087a 100644
--- a/includes/database/database.inc
+++ b/includes/database/database.inc
@@ -459,6 +459,7 @@ abstract class DatabaseConnection extends PDO {
    *   The properly-prefixed string.
    */
   public function prefixTables($sql) {
+    $sql = str_replace("{system}", "{`system`}", $sql);
     return str_replace($this->prefixSearch, $this->prefixReplace, $sql);
   }
 
diff --git a/includes/database/mysql/database.inc b/includes/database/mysql/database.inc
index 356e039f..a1d29623 100644
--- a/includes/database/mysql/database.inc
+++ b/includes/database/mysql/database.inc
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class DatabaseConnection_mysql extends DatabaseConnection {
       'init_commands' => array(),
     );
     $connection_options['init_commands'] += array(
-      'sql_mode' => "SET sql_mode = 'REAL_AS_FLOAT,PIPES_AS_CONCAT,ANSI_QUOTES,IGNORE_SPACE,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,STRICT_ALL_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER'",
+      'sql_mode' => "SET sql_mode = 'REAL_AS_FLOAT,PIPES_AS_CONCAT,ANSI_QUOTES,IGNORE_SPACE,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,STRICT_ALL_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO'",
     );
     // Execute initial commands.
     foreach ($connection_options['init_commands'] as $sql) {