diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php
index 8d3a1e1..ff38a22 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Connection.php
@@ -70,21 +70,10 @@ public function __construct(\PDO $connection, array $connection_options) {
     // Force PostgreSQL to use the UTF-8 character set by default.
     $this->connection->exec("SET NAMES 'UTF8'");
 
-    // Set PostgreSQL init_commands if not already defined.
-    $connection_options += array(
-      'init_commands' => array(),
-    );
-
-    $connection_options['init_commands'] += array(
-      // Set standard_conforming_strings to off so as to treat backslashes as
-      // escape characters, complying with historical PostgreSQL behavior. In
-      // PostgreSQL 9.1 and up this is on by default, however Drupal still
-      // assumes this to be off.
-      'standard_conforming_strings' => 'SET standard_conforming_strings = off',
-    );
-
     // Execute PostgreSQL init_commands.
-    $this->connection->exec(implode('; ', $connection_options['init_commands']));
+    if (isset($connection_options['init_commands'])) {
+      $this->connection->exec(implode('; ', $connection_options['init_commands']));
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Install/Tasks.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Install/Tasks.php
index 1557d41..0b0ecdb 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Install/Tasks.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/pgsql/Install/Tasks.php
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ public function __construct() {
       'arguments' => array(),
     );
     $this->tasks[] = array(
+      'function' => 'checkStandardConformingStrings',
+      'arguments' => array(),
+    );
+    $this->tasks[] = array(
       'function' => 'initializeDatabase',
       'arguments' => array(),
     );
@@ -185,6 +189,56 @@ protected function checkBinaryOutputSuccess() {
   }
 
   /**
+   * Check standard_conforming_strings setting.
+   *
+   * @todo
+   */
+  function checkStandardConformingStrings() {
+    $database_connection = Database::getConnection();
+    if (!$this->checkStandardConformingStringsSuccess()) {
+      // First try to alter the database. If it fails, raise an error telling
+      // the user to do it themselves.
+      $connection_options = $database_connection->getConnectionOptions();
+      // It is safe to include the database name directly here, because this
+      // code is only called when a connection to the database is already
+      // established, thus the database name is guaranteed to be a correct
+      // value.
+      $query = "ALTER DATABASE \"" . $connection_options['database'] . "\" SET standard_conforming_strings = 'off';";
+      try {
+        db_query($query);
+      }
+      catch (\Exception $e) {
+        // Ignore possible errors when the user doesn't have the necessary
+        // privileges to ALTER the database.
+      }
+
+      // Close the database connection so that the configuration parameter
+      // is applied to the current connection.
+      db_close();
+
+      // Recheck, if it fails, finally just rely on the end user to do the
+      // right thing.
+      if (!$this->checkStandardConformingStringsSuccess()) {
+        $replacements = array(
+          '%setting' => 'standard_conforming_strings',
+          '%current_value' => 'on',
+          '%needed_value' => 'off',
+          '!query' => "<code>" . $query . "</code>",
+        );
+        $this->fail(t("The %setting setting is currently set to '%current_value', but needs to be '%needed_value'. Change this by running the following query: !query", $replacements));
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Verify that a binary data roundtrip returns the original string.
+   */
+  protected function checkStandardConformingStringsSuccess() {
+    $standard_conforming_strings = db_query("SHOW standard_conforming_strings")->fetchField();
+    return ($standard_conforming_strings == 'off');
+  }
+
+  /**
    * Make PostgreSQL Drupal friendly.
    */
   function initializeDatabase() {