diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/schema.php b/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
index 3e7ca95dc..f0f23f967 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ $charset_collate = '';
 // Declare these as global in case schema.php is included from a function.
 global $wpdb, $wp_queries;
 
-if ( $wpdb->supports_collation() ) {
+if ( $wpdb->has_cap( 'collation' ) ) {
 	if ( ! empty($wpdb->charset) )
 		$charset_collate = "DEFAULT CHARACTER SET $wpdb->charset";
 	if ( ! empty($wpdb->collate) )
diff --git a/wp-includes/query.php b/wp-includes/query.php
index e7b89ffc4..9756f6c04 100644
--- a/wp-includes/query.php
+++ b/wp-includes/query.php
@@ -1046,7 +1046,7 @@ class WP_Query {
 		}
 
 		if ( !empty($q['category__not_in']) ) {
-			if ( $wpdb->supports_subqueries() ) {
+			if ( $wpdb->has_cap( 'subqueries' ) ) {
 				$cat_string = "'" . implode("', '", $q['category__not_in']) . "'";
 				$whichcat .= " AND $wpdb->posts.ID NOT IN (SELECT $wpdb->term_relationships.object_id FROM $wpdb->term_relationships WHERE $wpdb->term_relationships.term_taxonomy_id IN ($cat_string) )";
 			} else {
diff --git a/wp-includes/wp-db.php b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
index f14efb1fd..be29054a3 100644
--- a/wp-includes/wp-db.php
+++ b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ class wpdb {
 
 		$this->ready = true;
 
-		if ( $this->supports_collation() ) {
+		if ( $this->has_cap( 'collation' ) ) {
 			$collation_query = '';
 			if ( !empty($this->charset) ) {
 				$collation_query = "SET NAMES '{$this->charset}'";
@@ -919,18 +919,27 @@ class wpdb {
 	 */
 	function supports_collation()
 	{
-		return ( version_compare($this->db_version(), '4.1.0', '>=') );
+		return $this->has_cap( 'collation' );
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Whether of not the database version supports sub-queries.
-	 *
-	 * @since 2.7
-	 *
-	 * @return bool True if sub-queries are supported, false if version does not
+	 * Generic function to determine if a database supports a particular feature
+	 * @param string $db_cap the feature
+	 * @param false|string|resource $dbh_or_table the databaese (the current database, the database housing the specified table, or the database of the mysql resource)
+	 * @return bool
 	 */
-	function supports_subqueries() {
-		return ( version_compare(mysql_get_server_info($this->dbh), '4.1.0', '>=') );
+	function has_cap( $db_cap ) {
+		$version = $this->db_version();
+
+		switch ( strtolower( $db_cap ) ) :
+		case 'collation' :    // @since 2.5.0
+		case 'group_concat' : // @since 2.7
+		case 'subqueries' :   // @since 2.7
+			return version_compare($version, '4.1', '>=');
+			break;
+		endswitch;
+
+		return false;
 	}
 
 	/**