diff --git a/pavelib/utils/test/bokchoy_utils.py b/pavelib/utils/test/bokchoy_utils.py
index c667ffc4a3..c71c6164aa 100644
--- a/pavelib/utils/test/bokchoy_utils.py
+++ b/pavelib/utils/test/bokchoy_utils.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import sys
 import os
 import time
 import httplib
+import subprocess
 from paver.easy import sh
 from pavelib.utils.envs import Env
 from pavelib.utils.process import run_background_process
@@ -125,10 +126,13 @@ def is_mysql_running():
     """
     Returns True if mysql is running, False otherwise.
     """
-    # We use the MySQL CLI client and capture its stderr
-    # If the client cannot connect successfully, stderr will be non-empty
-    output = os.popen('status mysql 2>&1').read()
-    return output.startswith("mysql start/running, process")
+    # We need to check whether or not mysql is running as a process
+    # even if it is not daemonized.
+    with open(os.devnull, 'w') as DEVNULL:
+        #pgrep returns the PID, which we send to /dev/null
+        returncode = subprocess.call("pgrep mysqld", stdout=DEVNULL, shell=True)
+    return returncode == 0
+
 
 def clear_mongo():
     """