diff --git a/lib/dml/moodle_database.php b/lib/dml/moodle_database.php
index d525a4b37a2..83885c3bcf1 100644
--- a/lib/dml/moodle_database.php
+++ b/lib/dml/moodle_database.php
@@ -160,9 +160,10 @@ abstract class moodle_database {
      * Loads and returns a database instance with the specified type and library.
      * @param string $type database type of the driver (mysqli, pgsql, mssql, sqldrv, oci, etc.)
      * @param string $library database library of the driver (native, pdo, etc.)
+     * @param boolean $external true if this is an external database
      * @return moodle_database driver object or null if error
      */
-    public static function get_driver_instance($type, $library) {
+    public static function get_driver_instance($type, $library, $external = false) {
         global $CFG;
 
         $classname = $type.'_'.$library.'_moodle_database';
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@ abstract class moodle_database {
         }
 
         require_once($libfile);
-        return new $classname();
+        return new $classname($external);
     }
 
     /**