diff --git a/mozilla/webtools/bonsai/configdata.in b/mozilla/webtools/bonsai/configdata.in
index 7902d46cf75..f4b50a68e0d 100644
--- a/mozilla/webtools/bonsai/configdata.in
+++ b/mozilla/webtools/bonsai/configdata.in
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ set userdomain somedomain
 
 # User and password for access to the MySQL bonsai database
 # use empty string ("") for password if you want to access the database
-# without using a password (not recommended)
+# without using a password (not recommended).  If you are using an older
+# version of mysqltcl, you may also need to set the username to be "".
 set mysqluser nobody
 set mysqlpassword ""
 
diff --git a/mozilla/webtools/bonsai/globals.tcl b/mozilla/webtools/bonsai/globals.tcl
index 5cbf0fbace2..e0d132926ab 100755
--- a/mozilla/webtools/bonsai/globals.tcl
+++ b/mozilla/webtools/bonsai/globals.tcl
@@ -73,11 +73,16 @@ if {[info exists tcl_version] && $tcl_version >= 8.0} {
 proc NOTDEF {foo} {
 }
 
+
 proc ConnectToDatabase {} {
     global mysqlhandle mysqluser mysqlpassword
     if {![info exists mysqlhandle]} {
         if { $mysqlpassword == "" } {
-            set mysqlhandle [mysqlconnect -user "$mysqluser"]
+            if { $mysqluser == "" } {
+                set mysqlhandle [mysqlconnect]
+            } else {
+                set mysqlhandle [mysqlconnect -user "$mysqluser"]
+            }
         } else {
             set mysqlhandle [mysqlconnect -user "$mysqluser" -password "$mysqlpassword"]
         }