Index: class.ux_t3lib_db.php
===================================================================
--- class.ux_t3lib_db.php	(revision 32189)
+++ class.ux_t3lib_db.php	(working copy)
@@ -2580,6 +2606,26 @@
 
 
 	/**
+	 * Checks if database is connected.
+	 *
+	 * @return·boolean
+	 */
+	public function isConnected() {
+		$result = FALSE;
+		switch ((string)$this->handlerCfg[$this->lastHandlerKey]['type']) {
+			case 'native':
+				$result = is_resource($this->link);
+				break;
+			case 'adodb':
+			case 'userdefined':
+				$result = is_object($this->handlerInstance[$this->lastHandlerKey]) && $this->handlerInstance[$this->lastHandlerKey]->isConnected();
+				break;
+		}
+		return $result;
+	}
+
+
+	/**
 	 * Checks whether the DBAL is currently inside an operation running on the "native" DB handler (i.e. MySQL)
 	 *
 	 * @return boolean	True if running on "native" DB handler (i.e. MySQL)
Index: tests/db_mssql_testcase.php
===================================================================
--- tests/db_mssql_testcase.php	(revision 32189)
+++ tests/db_mssql_testcase.php	(working copy)
@@ -64,10 +64,12 @@
 		$parserClassName = self::buildAccessibleProxy('ux_t3lib_sqlparser');
 		$GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->SQLparser = new $parserClassName;
 
+		$this->assertFalse($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->isConnected());
+
 			// Initialize a fake MS SQL connection
 		FakeDbConnection::connect($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB'], 'mssql');
 
-		$this->assertTrue($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->handlerInstance['_DEFAULT']->isConnected());
+		$this->assertTrue($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->isConnected());
 	}
 
 	/**
Index: tests/db_postgresql_testcase.php
===================================================================
--- tests/db_postgresql_testcase.php	(revision 32189)
+++ tests/db_postgresql_testcase.php	(working copy)
@@ -64,10 +64,12 @@
 		$parserClassName = self::buildAccessibleProxy('ux_t3lib_sqlparser');
 		$GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->SQLparser = new $parserClassName;
 
+		$this->assertFalse($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->isConnected());
+
 			// Initialize a fake PostgreSQL connection (using 'postgres7' as 'postgres' is remapped to it in AdoDB)
 		FakeDbConnection::connect($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB'], 'postgres7');
 
-		$this->assertTrue($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->handlerInstance['_DEFAULT']->isConnected());
+		$this->assertTrue($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->isConnected());
 	}
 
 	/**
Index: tests/db_oracle_testcase.php
===================================================================
--- tests/db_oracle_testcase.php	(revision 32189)
+++ tests/db_oracle_testcase.php	(working copy)
@@ -64,10 +64,12 @@
 		$parserClassName = self::buildAccessibleProxy('ux_t3lib_sqlparser');
 		$GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->SQLparser = new $parserClassName;
 
+		$this->assertFalse($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->isConnected());
+
 			// Initialize a fake Oracle connection
 		FakeDbConnection::connect($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB'], 'oci8');
 
-		$this->assertTrue($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->handlerInstance['_DEFAULT']->isConnected());
+		$this->assertTrue($GLOBALS['TYPO3_DB']->isConnected());
 	}
 
 	/**