diff --git a/libraries/common.lib.php b/libraries/common.lib.php
index 15e0e22f3..c72886607 100644
--- a/libraries/common.lib.php
+++ b/libraries/common.lib.php
@@ -1273,7 +1273,9 @@ function PMA_showMessage($message, $sql_query = null)
  * @author   Marc Delisle 
  */
 function PMA_profilingCheckbox($sql_query) {
-    if (PMA_MYSQL_INT_VERSION >= 50037) {
+    // 5.0.37 has profiling but for example, 5.1.20 does not
+    // (avoid doing a fetch_value for MySQL before 5.0.37)
+    if (PMA_MYSQL_INT_VERSION >= 50037 && PMA_DBI_fetch_value("SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'profiling'")) {
         echo '<form action="sql.php" method="post" />' . "\n";
         echo PMA_generate_common_hidden_inputs($GLOBALS['db'], $GLOBALS['table']);
         echo '<input type="hidden" name="sql_query" value="' . $sql_query . '" />' . "\n";