diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 51dff561c5..1fbb4562eb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ It means that composer will look at `master` branch of repository configured und
 
 ## Changelog
 
+### 2026-09-30
+
+- Fix the PHP 8.5 `PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_*` deprecations in the MySQL datasource: on PHP >= 8.4, `Mysql::connect()` uses the `Pdo\Mysql::ATTR_*` constants, including the SSL ones (based on kamilwylegala/cakephp2-php8#86). Apps passing `PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_*` in the datasource `flags` option should switch to `Pdo\Mysql::ATTR_*` on PHP >= 8.4 as well.
+
 ### 2026-08-26
 
 - Security: backported the view template path containment check from CakePHP 4.5.11 (CVE-2026-48820 / GHSA-wpvj-hjcr-h3p2). Element / view / layout names resolving outside the configured view template paths now throw `InvalidArgumentException`. BC note: `elementExists()` now throws for such names instead of returning `false`.
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Mysql.php b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Mysql.php
index 40b8062a45..f9b7100a52 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Mysql.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Model/Datasource/Database/Mysql.php
@@ -163,13 +163,19 @@ public function connect() {
 		$config = $this->config;
 		$this->connected = false;
 
-		// PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_* constants are deprecated in PHP 8.5; Pdo\Mysql class is available since PHP 8.1
-		if (class_exists('Pdo\Mysql')) {
+		// PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_* constants are deprecated as of PHP 8.5 in favor of Pdo\Mysql::ATTR_* (available since PHP 8.4)
+		if (PHP_VERSION_ID >= 80400) {
 			$mysqlAttrUseBufferedQuery = Pdo\Mysql::ATTR_USE_BUFFERED_QUERY;
 			$mysqlAttrInitCommand = Pdo\Mysql::ATTR_INIT_COMMAND;
+			$mysqlAttrSslKey = Pdo\Mysql::ATTR_SSL_KEY;
+			$mysqlAttrSslCert = Pdo\Mysql::ATTR_SSL_CERT;
+			$mysqlAttrSslCa = Pdo\Mysql::ATTR_SSL_CA;
 		} else {
 			$mysqlAttrUseBufferedQuery = PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_USE_BUFFERED_QUERY;
 			$mysqlAttrInitCommand = PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND;
+			$mysqlAttrSslKey = PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_KEY;
+			$mysqlAttrSslCert = PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CERT;
+			$mysqlAttrSslCa = PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA;
 		}
 
 		$flags = $config['flags'] + array(
@@ -182,11 +188,11 @@ public function connect() {
 			$flags[$mysqlAttrInitCommand] = 'SET NAMES ' . $config['encoding'];
 		}
 		if (!empty($config['ssl_key']) && !empty($config['ssl_cert'])) {
-			$flags[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_KEY] = $config['ssl_key'];
-			$flags[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CERT] = $config['ssl_cert'];
+			$flags[$mysqlAttrSslKey] = $config['ssl_key'];
+			$flags[$mysqlAttrSslCert] = $config['ssl_cert'];
 		}
 		if (!empty($config['ssl_ca'])) {
-			$flags[PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_SSL_CA] = $config['ssl_ca'];
+			$flags[$mysqlAttrSslCa] = $config['ssl_ca'];
 		}
 		if (empty($config['unix_socket'])) {
 			$dsn = "mysql:host={$config['host']};port={$config['port']};dbname={$config['database']}";