diff --git a/wire/core/WireDatabasePDO.php b/wire/core/WireDatabasePDO.php
index c614b9ba..27e84ef1 100644
--- a/wire/core/WireDatabasePDO.php
+++ b/wire/core/WireDatabasePDO.php
@@ -73,6 +73,36 @@ class WireDatabasePDO extends Wire implements WireDatabase {
 	 */
 	protected $stripMB4 = false;
 
+	/**
+	 * Lowercase value of $config->dbEngine
+	 * 
+	 * @var string
+	 * 
+	 */
+	protected $engine = '';
+
+	/**
+	 * Lowercase value of $config->dbCharset
+	 * 
+	 * @var string
+	 * 
+	 */
+	protected $charset = '';
+
+	/**
+	 * Substitute variable names according to engine as used by getVariable() method
+	 * 
+	 * @var array
+	 * 
+	 */
+	protected $subVars = array(
+		'myisam' => array(),
+		'innodb' => array(
+			'ft_min_word_len' => 'innodb_ft_min_token_size',
+			'ft_max_word_len' => 'innodb_ft_max_token_size',
+		),
+	);
+
 	/**
 	 * PDO connection settings
 	 * 
@@ -82,7 +112,7 @@ class WireDatabasePDO extends Wire implements WireDatabase {
 		'user' => '',
 		'pass' => '', 	
 		'options' => '',
-		);
+	);
 
 	/**
 	 * Cached values from getVariable method
@@ -177,8 +207,10 @@ class WireDatabasePDO extends Wire implements WireDatabase {
 	public function _init() {
 		if($this->init || !$this->isWired()) return;
 		$this->init = true; 
-		$config = $this->wire('config');
+		$config = $this->wire()->config;
 		$this->stripMB4 = $config->dbStripMB4 && strtolower($config->dbEngine) != 'utf8mb4';
+		$this->engine = strtolower($config->dbEngine);
+		$this->charset = strtolower($config->dbCharset);
 		$this->queryLogMax = (int) $config->dbQueryLogMax;
 		if($config->debug && $this->pdo) {
 			// custom PDO statement for debug mode
@@ -881,11 +913,13 @@ class WireDatabasePDO extends Wire implements WireDatabase {
 	 * #pw-group-custom
 	 * 
 	 * @param string $name Name of MySQL variable you want to retrieve
-	 * @param bool $cache Allow use of cached values?
+	 * @param bool $cache Allow use of cached values? (default=true)
+	 * @param bool $sub Allow substitution of MyISAM variable names to InnoDB equivalents when InnoDB is engine? (default=true)
 	 * @return string|int
 	 * 
 	 */
-	public function getVariable($name, $cache = true) {
+	public function getVariable($name, $cache = true, $sub = true) {
+		if($sub && isset($this->subVars[$this->engine][$name])) $name = $this->subVars[$this->engine][$name]; 
 		if($cache && isset($this->variableCache[$name])) return $this->variableCache[$name];
 		$query = $this->prepare('SHOW VARIABLES WHERE Variable_name=:name');
 		$query->bindValue(':name', $name);
@@ -934,12 +968,9 @@ class WireDatabasePDO extends Wire implements WireDatabase {
 	 * 
 	 */
 	public function getMaxIndexLength() {
-		$config = $this->wire('config');
-		$engine = strtolower($config->dbEngine);
-		$charset = strtolower($config->dbCharset);
 		$max = 250; 
-		if($charset == 'utf8mb4') {
-			if($engine == 'innodb') {
+		if($this->charset === 'utf8mb4') {
+			if($this->engine === 'innodb') {
 				$max = 191; 
 			}
 		}