diff --git a/MySQLdb/connections.py b/MySQLdb/connections.py
index eca51ed5..7adc8835 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/connections.py
+++ b/MySQLdb/connections.py
@@ -110,6 +110,10 @@ class object, used to create cursors (keyword only)
         :param int client_flag:
             flags to use or 0 (see MySQL docs or constants/CLIENTS.py)
 
+        :param bool multi_statements:
+            If True, enable multi statements for clients >= 4.1.
+            Defaults to True.
+
         :param str ssl_mode:
             specify the security settings for connection to the server;
             see the MySQL documentation for more details
@@ -169,11 +173,16 @@ class object, used to create cursors (keyword only)
         self._binary_prefix = kwargs2.pop("binary_prefix", False)
 
         client_flag = kwargs.get("client_flag", 0)
+
         client_version = tuple(
             [numeric_part(n) for n in _mysql.get_client_info().split(".")[:2]]
         )
-        if client_version >= (4, 1):
-            client_flag |= CLIENT.MULTI_STATEMENTS
+
+        multi_statements = kwargs2.pop("multi_statements", True)
+        if multi_statements:
+            if client_version >= (4, 1):
+                client_flag |= CLIENT.MULTI_STATEMENTS
+
         if client_version >= (5, 0):
             client_flag |= CLIENT.MULTI_RESULTS
 
diff --git a/tests/test_connection.py b/tests/test_connection.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..960de572
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_connection.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import pytest
+
+from MySQLdb._exceptions import ProgrammingError
+
+from configdb import connection_factory
+
+
+def test_multi_statements_default_true():
+    conn = connection_factory()
+    cursor = conn.cursor()
+
+    cursor.execute("select 17; select 2")
+    rows = cursor.fetchall()
+    assert rows == ((17,),)
+
+
+def test_multi_statements_false():
+    conn = connection_factory(multi_statements=False)
+    cursor = conn.cursor()
+
+    with pytest.raises(ProgrammingError):
+        cursor.execute("select 17; select 2")
+
+    cursor.execute("select 17")
+    rows = cursor.fetchall()
+    assert rows == ((17,),)