diff --git a/frappe/database/__init__.py b/frappe/database/__init__.py
index a68fdb78b5..bde93f048b 100644
--- a/frappe/database/__init__.py
+++ b/frappe/database/__init__.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def get_db(socket=None, host=None, user=None, password=None, port=None, cur_db_n
 		import frappe.database.sqlite.database
 
 		return frappe.database.sqlite.database.SQLiteDatabase(cur_db_name=cur_db_name)
-	elif conf.use_mysqlclient:
+	elif conf.get("use_mysqlclient", 1):
 		import frappe.database.mariadb.mysqlclient
 
 		return frappe.database.mariadb.mysqlclient.MariaDBDatabase(