diff --git a/manifests/params.pp b/manifests/params.pp
index 29e9b0f95..df14e7e8b 100644
--- a/manifests/params.pp
+++ b/manifests/params.pp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class nova::params {
       $serialproxy_package_name      = 'openstack-nova-serialproxy'
       $spicehtml5proxy_package_name  = 'openstack-nova-console'
       $sqlite_package_name           = undef
-      $pymysql_package_name          = 'python2-PyMySQL'
+      $pymysql_package_name          = undef
       # service names
       $api_service_name             = 'openstack-nova-api'
       $cells_service_name           = 'openstack-nova-cells'
diff --git a/spec/classes/nova_db_spec.rb b/spec/classes/nova_db_spec.rb
index 4336dfa8e..62bc602bb 100644
--- a/spec/classes/nova_db_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/nova_db_spec.rb
@@ -79,12 +79,21 @@ describe 'nova::db' do
       })
     end
 
-    let :platform_params do
-      { :pymysql_package_name => 'python-pymysql' }
-    end
-
     it_configures 'nova::db'
 
+    context 'using pymysql driver' do
+      let :params do
+        { :database_connection   => 'mysql+pymysql://user:pass@db/db', }
+      end
+      it 'install the proper backend package' do
+        is_expected.to contain_package('nova-backend-package').with(
+          :ensure => 'present',
+          :name   => 'python-pymysql',
+          :tag    => 'openstack'
+        )
+      end
+    end
+
     context 'with sqlite backend' do
       let :params do
         { :database_connection     => 'sqlite:///var/lib/nova/nova.sqlite', }
@@ -109,11 +118,15 @@ describe 'nova::db' do
       })
     end
 
-    let :platform_params do
-      { :pymysql_package_name => 'python2-PyMySQL' }
-    end
-
     it_configures 'nova::db'
+
+    context 'using pymysql driver' do
+      let :params do
+        { :database_connection   => 'mysql+pymysql://user:pass@db/db', }
+      end
+
+      it { is_expected.not_to contain_package('nova-backend-package') }
+    end
   end
 
 end