diff --git a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
index 7469080b3c7eab504ef61c290a6d41288bbbd465..715c2a45c947491576332caf224c42defa1a5a9d 100644
--- a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
+++ b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBSQL/DBConnection.pm
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ sub new {
   $self->host( $host );
   $self->dbname( $db );
   $self->password( $password);
+  $self->port($port);
+  $self->driver($driver);
 
   #be very sneaky and actually return a dbholder object which is outside
   #of the circular reference loops and will cleanup after the subclass