diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3e5c5a0..ba6eb66 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 --- develop ---
 
 * issue#250: Fix date filter persistence by validating before shift_span detection
+* issue#270: Use strict MariaDB version detection in the install advisor
 * issue: Making changes to support Cacti 1.3
 * issue: Don't use MyISAM for non-analytical tables
 * issue: The install advisor for Syslog was broken in current Cacti releases
diff --git a/setup.php b/setup.php
index a90cb01..815e5c1 100644
--- a/setup.php
+++ b/setup.php
@@ -960,10 +960,11 @@ function syslog_install_advisor($syslog_exists) {
 		$type = __('Install', 'syslog');
 	}
 
-	$database = db_fetch_row('SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE "version"');
+	syslog_connect();
+	$database = syslog_db_fetch_row('SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE "version"');
 
-	/* remove Aria as a storage enging if this is mysql */
-	if (stripos($database['Value'], 'mariadb') == false) {
+	/* remove Aria as a storage engine if this is mysql */
+	if (stripos($database['Value'], 'mariadb') === false) {
 		unset($fields_syslog_update['engine']['array']['aria']);
 	} else {
 		$fields_syslog_update['engine']['value'] = 'aria';
@@ -1626,4 +1627,3 @@ function syslog_utilities_list() {
 	</tr>
 	<?php
 }
-
diff --git a/tests/regression/issue270_mariadb_detection_strict_test.php b/tests/regression/issue270_mariadb_detection_strict_test.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..85112b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/regression/issue270_mariadb_detection_strict_test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+<?php
+
+$setup = file_get_contents(dirname(__DIR__, 2) . '/setup.php');
+
+if ($setup === false) {
+	fwrite(STDERR, "Failed to load setup.php\n");
+	exit(1);
+}
+
+$legacyPattern = '/stripos\s*\(\s*\$database\s*\[\s*[\'"]{1}Value[\'"]{1}\s*\]\s*,\s*[\'"]{1}mariadb[\'"]{1}\s*\)\s*==\s*false/';
+$fixedPattern  = '/stripos\s*\(\s*\$database\s*\[\s*[\'"]{1}Value[\'"]{1}\s*\]\s*,\s*[\'"]{1}mariadb[\'"]{1}\s*\)\s*===\s*false/';
+
+if (preg_match($legacyPattern, $setup)) {
+	fwrite(STDERR, "Legacy loose MariaDB stripos comparison is still present.\n");
+	exit(1);
+}
+
+if (!preg_match($fixedPattern, $setup)) {
+	fwrite(STDERR, "Strict MariaDB stripos comparison is missing.\n");
+	exit(1);
+}
+
+echo "issue270_mariadb_detection_strict_test passed\n";