diff --git a/flaskext/mysql.py b/flaskext/mysql.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/flaskext/mysql.py
+++ b/flaskext/mysql.py
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ class MySQL(object):
             kwargs['db'] = self.app.config['MYSQL_DATABASE_DB']
         if self.app.config['MYSQL_DATABASE_CHARSET']:
             kwargs['charset'] = self.app.config['MYSQL_DATABASE_CHARSET']
+        if self.app.config['USE_UNICODE']:
+            kwargs['use_unicode'] = self.app.config['USE_UNICODE']
         return MySQLdb.connect(**kwargs)
 
     def before_request(self):
added USE_UNICODE setting to connect method