diff --git a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
index 82ce05b230c6616b56bc2c6e5977e1f58da8b6fb..7e9c8909d61a3dfbddcfaaab78382d7f73a0acc8 100644
--- a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
+++ b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
@@ -1121,8 +1121,8 @@ sub to_hash {
     -USER => $self->username(),
     -DRIVER => $self->driver(),
   };
-  $hash->{'DBNAME'} = $self->dbname() if defined $self->dbname();
-  $hash->{'PASS'} = $self->password() if defined $self->password();
+  $hash->{'-DBNAME'} = $self->dbname() if defined $self->dbname();
+  $hash->{'-PASS'} = $self->password() if defined $self->password();
   return $hash;
 }