diff --git a/memcache.inc b/memcache.inc
index 3a06988..72f495b 100644
--- a/memcache.inc
+++ b/memcache.inc
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class MemCacheDrupal implements DrupalCacheInterface {
     // If page_cache_without_database is enabled, we have to manually load the
     // $conf array out of cache_bootstrap.
     static $variables_loaded = FALSE;
-    if (!empty($GLOBALS['conf']['page_cache_without_database']) && !$variables_loaded) {
+    if (drupal_bootstrap(NULL, FALSE) < DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_VARIABLES && !$variables_loaded) {
       global $conf;
       $variables_loaded = TRUE;
       // Try loading variables from cache. If that fails, we have to bootstrap