diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/mysql/connection.rs b/sqlx-core/src/mysql/connection.rs
index 110f341d..29dc7cd9 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/mysql/connection.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/mysql/connection.rs
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ use crate::url::Url;
 use std::ops::Range;
 
 // Size before a packet is split
-const MAX_PACKET_SIZE: u32 = 1024;
+pub(super) const MAX_PACKET_SIZE: u32 = 1024;
 
-const COLLATE_UTF8MB4_UNICODE_CI: u8 = 224;
+pub(super) const COLLATE_UTF8MB4_UNICODE_CI: u8 = 224;
 
 /// An asynchronous connection to a [MySql] database.
 ///
diff --git a/sqlx-core/src/mysql/tls.rs b/sqlx-core/src/mysql/tls.rs
index 6af05019..58733e31 100644
--- a/sqlx-core/src/mysql/tls.rs
+++ b/sqlx-core/src/mysql/tls.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ pub(super) async fn upgrade_if_needed(stream: &mut MySqlStream, url: &Url) -> cr
             }
         }
 
+        #[cfg(feature = "tls")]
+        None => {
+            if let Err(error) = try_upgrade(stream, &url, ca_file.as_deref(), true).await {
+                // TLS upgrade failed; fall back to a normal connection
+            }
+        }
+
         #[cfg(feature = "tls")]
         Some(mode @ "REQUIRED") | Some(mode @ "VERIFY_CA") | Some(mode @ "VERIFY_IDENTITY")
             if !supports_tls =>
@@ -104,8 +111,8 @@ async fn try_upgrade(
     stream
         .send(
             SslRequest {
-                client_collation: COLLATE_UTF8MB4_UNICODE_CI,
-                max_packet_size: MAX_PACKET_SIZE,
+                client_collation: super::connection::COLLATE_UTF8MB4_UNICODE_CI,
+                max_packet_size: super::connection::MAX_PACKET_SIZE,
             },
             false,
         )