diff --git a/lib/connection_config.js b/lib/connection_config.js
index 98fa1d3d1d..6890f72003 100644
--- a/lib/connection_config.js
+++ b/lib/connection_config.js
@@ -258,6 +258,16 @@ class ConnectionConfig {
       password: parsedUrl.password
     };
     parsedUrl.searchParams.forEach((value, key) => {
+      if (key === 'connectAttributes') {
+        options[key] = value
+          .split(',')
+          .map(x => x.split(':').map(y => y.trim()))
+          .reduce((a, x) => {
+            a[x[0]] = x[1];
+            return a;
+          }, {});
+        return;
+      }
       try {
         // Try to parse this as a JSON expression first
         options[key] = JSON.parse(value);
diff --git a/test/unit/connection/test-connection_config.js b/test/unit/connection/test-connection_config.js
index 0e1c0b1ca6..93a5f1316e 100644
--- a/test/unit/connection/test-connection_config.js
+++ b/test/unit/connection/test-connection_config.js
@@ -49,3 +49,15 @@ assert.strictEqual(
   ).password,
   'pass!%40$%%5E&*()%5Cword%3A'
 );
+
+assert.deepEqual(
+  ConnectionConfig.parseUrl(
+    String.raw`mysql://localhost/database?connectAttributes=program_name:testProg,second_attr:example`
+  ).connectAttributes,
+  (new ConnectionConfig({
+    connectAttributes: {
+      program_name: 'testProg',
+      second_attr: 'example'
+    }
+  })).connectAttributes
+);