Index: django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
===================================================================
--- django/db/backends/mysql/base.py	(Revision 4285)
+++ django/db/backends/mysql/base.py	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -98,9 +98,13 @@
                 kwargs['port'] = int(settings.DATABASE_PORT)
             kwargs.update(self.options)
             self.connection = Database.connect(**kwargs)
-            cursor = self.connection.cursor()
             if self.connection.get_server_info() >= '4.1':
+                self.connection.charset = 'utf8'
+                cursor = self.connection.cursor()
                 cursor.execute("SET NAMES 'utf8'")
+            else:
+                cursor = self.connection.cursor()
+                
         else:
             cursor = self.connection.cursor()
         if settings.DEBUG: