diff --git a/MySQLdb/_mysql.c b/MySQLdb/_mysql.c
index f396561f..13280ace 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/_mysql.c
+++ b/MySQLdb/_mysql.c
@@ -34,6 +34,14 @@ PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
 #define my_bool _Bool
 #endif
 
+#if ((MYSQL_VERSION_ID >= 50555 && MYSQL_VERSION_ID <= 50599) || \
+(MYSQL_VERSION_ID >= 50636 && MYSQL_VERSION_ID <= 50699) || \
+(MYSQL_VERSION_ID >= 50711 && MYSQL_VERSION_ID <= 50799) || \
+(MYSQL_VERSION_ID >= 80000)) && \
+!defined(MARIADB_BASE_VERSION) && !defined(MARIADB_VERSION_ID)
+#define HAVE_ENUM_MYSQL_OPT_SSL_MODE
+#endif
+
 #define PY_SSIZE_T_CLEAN 1
 #include "Python.h"
 
@@ -371,6 +379,23 @@ static int _mysql_ResultObject_clear(_mysql_ResultObject *self)
     return 0;
 }
 
+#ifdef HAVE_ENUM_MYSQL_OPT_SSL_MODE
+static int
+_get_ssl_mode_num(char *ssl_mode)
+{
+    static char *ssl_mode_list[] = { "DISABLED", "PREFERRED",
+                  "REQUIRED", "VERIFY_CA", "VERIFY_IDENTITY" };
+    unsigned int i;
+    for (i=0; i < sizeof(ssl_mode_list)/sizeof(ssl_mode_list[0]); i++) {
+        if (strcmp(ssl_mode, ssl_mode_list[i]) == 0) {
+            // SSL_MODE one-based
+            return i + 1;
+        }
+    }
+    return -1;
+}
+#endif
+
 static int
 _mysql_ConnectionObject_Initialize(
     _mysql_ConnectionObject *self,
@@ -380,6 +405,7 @@ _mysql_ConnectionObject_Initialize(
     MYSQL *conn = NULL;
     PyObject *conv = NULL;
     PyObject *ssl = NULL;
+    char *ssl_mode = NULL;
     const char *key = NULL, *cert = NULL, *ca = NULL,
          *capath = NULL, *cipher = NULL;
     PyObject *ssl_keepref[5] = {NULL};
@@ -393,7 +419,7 @@ _mysql_ConnectionObject_Initialize(
                   "connect_timeout", "compress",
                   "named_pipe", "init_command",
                   "read_default_file", "read_default_group",
-                  "client_flag", "ssl",
+                  "client_flag", "ssl", "ssl_mode",
                   "local_infile",
                   "read_timeout", "write_timeout", "charset",
                   "auth_plugin",
@@ -412,7 +438,7 @@ _mysql_ConnectionObject_Initialize(
     self->open = 0;
 
     if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwargs,
-                "|ssssisOiiisssiOiiiss:connect",
+                "|ssssisOiiisssiOsiiiss:connect",
                 kwlist,
                 &host, &user, &passwd, &db,
                 &port, &unix_socket, &conv,
@@ -420,7 +446,7 @@ _mysql_ConnectionObject_Initialize(
                 &compress, &named_pipe,
                 &init_command, &read_default_file,
                 &read_default_group,
-                &client_flag, &ssl,
+                &client_flag, &ssl, &ssl_mode,
                 &local_infile,
                 &read_timeout,
                 &write_timeout,
@@ -441,6 +467,17 @@ _mysql_ConnectionObject_Initialize(
         _stringsuck(key, value, ssl);
         _stringsuck(cipher, value, ssl);
     }
+    if (ssl_mode) {
+#ifdef HAVE_ENUM_MYSQL_OPT_SSL_MODE
+        if (_get_ssl_mode_num(ssl_mode) <= 0) {
+            PyErr_SetString(_mysql_NotSupportedError, "Unknown ssl_mode specification");
+            return -1;
+        }
+#else
+        PyErr_SetString(_mysql_NotSupportedError, "MySQL client library does not support ssl_mode specification");
+        return -1;
+#endif
+    }
 
     conn = mysql_init(&(self->connection));
     if (!conn) {
@@ -483,6 +520,12 @@ _mysql_ConnectionObject_Initialize(
     if (ssl) {
         mysql_ssl_set(&(self->connection), key, cert, ca, capath, cipher);
     }
+#ifdef HAVE_ENUM_MYSQL_OPT_SSL_MODE
+    if (ssl_mode) {
+        int ssl_mode_num = _get_ssl_mode_num(ssl_mode);
+        mysql_options(&(self->connection), MYSQL_OPT_SSL_MODE, &ssl_mode_num);
+    }
+#endif
     if (charset) {
         mysql_options(&(self->connection), MYSQL_SET_CHARSET_NAME, charset);
     }
diff --git a/MySQLdb/connections.py b/MySQLdb/connections.py
index 27a04770..5ddb892d 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/connections.py
+++ b/MySQLdb/connections.py
@@ -102,6 +102,13 @@ class object, used to create cursors (keyword only)
         :param int client_flag:
             flags to use or 0 (see MySQL docs or constants/CLIENTS.py)
 
+        :param str ssl_mode:
+            specify the security settings for connection to the server;
+            see the MySQL documentation for more details
+            (mysql_option(), MYSQL_OPT_SSL_MODE).
+            Only one of 'DISABLED', 'PREFERRED', 'REQUIRED',
+            'VERIFY_CA', 'VERIFY_IDENTITY' can be specified.
+
         :param dict ssl:
             dictionary or mapping contains SSL connection parameters;
             see the MySQL documentation for more details
diff --git a/doc/MySQLdb.constants.rst b/doc/MySQLdb.constants.rst
index 5c9a5389..a803e3e5 100644
--- a/doc/MySQLdb.constants.rst
+++ b/doc/MySQLdb.constants.rst
@@ -48,4 +48,3 @@ constants Package
     :members:
     :undoc-members:
     :show-inheritance:
-
diff --git a/doc/user_guide.rst b/doc/user_guide.rst
index 0d317776..e52d0f79 100644
--- a/doc/user_guide.rst
+++ b/doc/user_guide.rst
@@ -357,6 +357,18 @@ connect(parameters...)
 
             *This must be a keyword parameter.*
 
+         ssl_mode
+            If present, specify the security settings for the
+            connection to the server. For more information on ssl_mode,
+            see the MySQL documentation. Only one of 'DISABLED',
+            'PREFERRED', 'REQUIRED', 'VERIFY_CA', 'VERIFY_IDENTITY'
+            can be specified.
+
+            If not present, the session ssl_mode will be unchanged,
+            but in version 5.7 and later, the default is PREFERRED.
+
+            *This must be a keyword parameter.*
+
          ssl
             This parameter takes a dictionary or mapping, where the
             keys are parameter names used by the mysql_ssl_set_ MySQL