2 files changed, 7 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_mysql_adapter.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_mysql_adapter.rb
index b3e55a0b90..c086111d41 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_mysql_adapter.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_mysql_adapter.rb
@@ -727,8 +727,12 @@ module ActiveRecord
 
       # SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'name'
       def show_variable(name)
-        variables = select_all("SHOW VARIABLES LIKE '#{name}'", 'SCHEMA')
-        variables.first['Value'] unless variables.empty?
+        begin
+          variables = select_all("select @@#{name} as 'Value'", 'SCHEMA')
+          variables.first['Value'] unless variables.empty?
+        rescue ActiveRecord::StatementInvalid => _e
+          nil
+        end
       end
 
       # Returns a table's primary key and belonging sequence.
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb
index 2ae462d773..0738c59ddf 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/mysql_adapter.rb
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
         return @client_encoding if @client_encoding
 
         result = exec_query(
-          "SHOW VARIABLES WHERE Variable_name = 'character_set_client'",
+          "select @@character_set_client",
           'SCHEMA')
         @client_encoding = ENCODINGS[result.rows.last.last]
       end