diff --git a/include/poller.php b/include/poller.php
index 03f0307712..9976e76db2 100644
--- a/include/poller.php
+++ b/include/poller.php
@@ -131,22 +131,29 @@ function poller_max_connections_reached() {
 		return false;
 
 	// Fetch the max value from the config. This is needed when the system cannot detect the correct value by itself.
+	// In that case we use the processlist to determine the current number of connections
 	$max = get_config("system", "max_connections");
 
 	if ($max == 0) {
 		$max = intval($r[0]["Value"]);
 		if ($max == 0)
 			return false;
+
+		$r = q("SHOW STATUS WHERE `variable_name` = 'Threads_connected'");
+		if (!$r)
+			return false;
+
+		$connected = intval($r[0]["Value"]);
+		if ($connected == 0)
+			return false;
+	} else {
+		$r = q("SHOW PROCESSLIST");
+		if (!$r)
+			return false;
+
+		$connected = count($r);
 	}
 
-	$r = q("SHOW STATUS WHERE `variable_name` = 'Threads_connected'");
-	if (!$r)
-		return false;
-
-	$connected = intval($r[0]["Value"]);
-	if ($connected == 0)
-		return false;
-
 	$level = $connected / $max;
 
 	logger("Connection usage: ".$connected."/".$max, LOGGER_DEBUG);