diff --git a/salt/modules/mysql.py b/salt/modules/mysql.py
index 87e2361e28..37436206d4 100644
--- a/salt/modules/mysql.py
+++ b/salt/modules/mysql.py
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ def _connect(**kwargs):
                 except IndexError:
                     return
             val = __salt__['config.option']('mysql.{0}'.format(name), None)
-            if val is not None:
+            if val != '':
                 connargs[key] = val

     # If a default file is explicitly passed to kwargs, don't grab the