diff --git a/reference/pdo_mysql/reference.xml b/reference/pdo_mysql/reference.xml
index 2925b6082f..657e90c707 100644
--- a/reference/pdo_mysql/reference.xml
+++ b/reference/pdo_mysql/reference.xml
@@ -91,7 +91,34 @@
        <term><constant>charset</constant></term>
        <listitem>
         <para>
-         The character set (since PHP 5.3.6).
+         The character set.
+        </para>
+        <para>
+         Prior to PHP 5.3.6, this element was silently ignored. The same
+         behaviour can be replicated with the
+         <constant>PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND</constant> driver option, as
+         the following example shows.
+        </para>
+        <para>
+         <example>
+          <title>
+           Setting the connection character set to UTF-8 prior to PHP 5.3.6
+          </title>
+          <programlisting role="php">
+<![CDATA[
+<?php
+$dsn = 'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=testdb';
+$username = 'username';
+$password = 'password';
+$options = array(
+    PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND => 'SET NAMES utf8',
+); 
+
+$dbh = new PDO($dsn, $username, $password, $options);
+?>
+]]>
+          </programlisting>
+         </example>
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </varlistentry>