diff --git a/reference/pdo_mysql/configure.xml b/reference/pdo_mysql/configure.xml
index 787bfc3cc5..8630e5dc61 100644
--- a/reference/pdo_mysql/configure.xml
+++ b/reference/pdo_mysql/configure.xml
@@ -3,10 +3,33 @@
 <section xml:id="ref.pdo-mysql.installation" xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
  &reftitle.install;
  <para>
-  Use <option role="configure">--with-pdo-mysql[=DIR]</option> to install
+  The common Unix distributions include binary versions of PHP that can
+  be installed. Although these binary versions are typically built with
+  support for the MySQL extensions, the extension libraries
+  themselves may need to be installed using an additional package. Check
+  the package manager than comes with your chosen distribution for
+  availability.
+ </para>
+ 
+ <para>
+  For example, on Ubuntu the <literal>php5-mysql</literal> package installs
+  the ext/mysql, ext/mysqli, and PDO_MYSQL PHP extensions. On CentOS, 
+  the <literal>php-mysql</literal> package also installs these three 
+  PHP extensions.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+  Alternatively, you can compile this extension yourself. Building PHP from 
+  source allows you to specify the MySQL extensions you want to use, as well 
+  as your choice of client library for each extension.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+  When compiling, use <option role="configure">--with-pdo-mysql[=DIR]</option> to install
   the PDO MySQL extension, where the optional <literal>[=DIR]</literal>
-  is the MySQL base install directory. If <link linkend="book.mysqlnd">mysqlnd</link>
-  is passed as <literal>[=DIR]</literal>, then the MySQL native driver will be used.
+  is the MySQL base library. As of PHP 5.4, <link linkend="book.mysqlnd">mysqlnd</link>
+  is the default library. For details about choosing a library, see
+  <link linkend="mysqlinfo.library.choosing">Choosing a MySQL library</link>.
  </para>
  <para>
   Optionally, the <option role="configure">--with-mysql-sock[=DIR]</option> sets to location
@@ -45,7 +68,14 @@ $ ./configure --with-pdo-mysql --with-mysql-sock=/var/mysql/mysql.sock
     <row>
      <entry>5.4.0</entry>
      <entry>
-      MySQL client libraries 4.1 and below are no longer supported.
+      <link linkend="book.mysqlnd">mysqlnd</link> became the default MySQL library 
+      when compiling PDO_MYSQL. Previously, libmysqlclient was the default MySQL library.
+     </entry>
+    </row>
+    <row>
+     <entry>5.4.0</entry>
+     <entry>
+      MySQL client libraries 4.1 and below are no longer supported. 
      </entry>
     </row>
     <row>