diff --git a/includes/database.inc b/includes/database.inc
index 683ae69..992e5a7 100644
--- a/includes/database.inc
+++ b/includes/database.inc
@@ -117,10 +117,12 @@ function db_prefix_tables($sql) {
  * @param $name
  *   The name assigned to the newly active database connection. If omitted, the
  *   default connection will be made active.
+ * @param $abort
+ *   If database connection could not be made, should we abort here or continue.
  *
  * @return the name of the previously active database or FALSE if non was found.
  */
-function db_set_active($name = 'default') {
+function db_set_active($name = 'default', $abort = TRUE) {
   global $db_url, $db_type, $active_db;
   static $db_conns, $active_name = FALSE;
 
@@ -148,7 +150,27 @@ function db_set_active($name = 'default') {
       _db_error_page("The database type '". $db_type ."' is unsupported. Please use either 'mysql' or 'mysqli' for MySQL, or 'pgsql' for PostgreSQL databases.");
     }
 
-    $db_conns[$name] = db_connect($connect_url);
+    $connection = db_connect($connect_url);
+    // db_connect is using array return notation.
+    if (is_array($connection)) {
+      list($success, $result) = $connection;
+      // Connection worked
+      if ($success) {
+        $db_conns[$name] = $result;
+      }
+      // Connection failed and abort page load.
+      elseif ($abort) {
+        _db_error_page($result);
+      }
+      // Connection failed but return false. Calling function will handle error.
+      else {
+        return FALSE;
+      }
+    }
+    // db_connect is not using array return notation; revert to old code style.
+    else {
+      $db_conns[$name] = $connection;
+    }
   }
 
   $previous_name = $active_name;
diff --git a/includes/database.mysql.inc b/includes/database.mysql.inc
index 01a7d17..4232c1d 100644
--- a/includes/database.mysql.inc
+++ b/includes/database.mysql.inc
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ function db_connect($url) {
   $connection = @mysql_connect($url['host'], $url['user'], $url['pass'], TRUE, 2);
   if (!$connection || !mysql_select_db(substr($url['path'], 1))) {
     // Show error screen otherwise
-    _db_error_page(mysql_error());
+    return array(FALSE, mysql_error());
   }
 
   // Force MySQL to use the UTF-8 character set. Also set the collation, if a
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ function db_connect($url) {
     mysql_query('SET NAMES utf8', $connection);
   }
 
-  return $connection;
+  return array(TRUE, $connection);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ function db_fetch_array($result) {
  *
  * @param $result
  *   A database query result resource, as returned from db_query().
- * 
+ *
  * @return
  *   The resulting field or FALSE.
  */
diff --git a/includes/database.mysqli.inc b/includes/database.mysqli.inc
index 613ff9e..cb8c0a0 100644
--- a/includes/database.mysqli.inc
+++ b/includes/database.mysqli.inc
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ function db_connect($url) {
   @mysqli_real_connect($connection, $url['host'], $url['user'], $url['pass'], substr($url['path'], 1), $url['port'], NULL, MYSQLI_CLIENT_FOUND_ROWS);
 
   if (mysqli_connect_errno() > 0) {
-    _db_error_page(mysqli_connect_error());
+    return array(FALSE, mysqli_connect_error());
   }
 
   // Force MySQL to use the UTF-8 character set. Also set the collation, if a
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ function db_connect($url) {
     mysqli_query($connection, 'SET NAMES utf8');
   }
 
-  return $connection;
+  return array(TRUE, $connection);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/includes/database.pgsql.inc b/includes/database.pgsql.inc
index 5fb0ccc..f877c13 100644
--- a/includes/database.pgsql.inc
+++ b/includes/database.pgsql.inc
@@ -78,14 +78,14 @@ function db_connect($url) {
   $connection = @pg_connect($conn_string);
   if (!$connection) {
     require_once './includes/unicode.inc';
-    _db_error_page(decode_entities($php_errormsg));
+    return array(FALSE, decode_entities($php_errormsg));
   }
 
   // Restore error tracking setting
   ini_set('track_errors', $track_errors_previous);
 
   pg_query($connection, "set client_encoding=\"UTF8\"");
-  return $connection;
+  return array(TRUE, $connection);
 }
 
 /**