diff --git a/django/db/__init__.py b/django/db/__init__.py
index 6f6e3ba6ed..641db6c012 100644
--- a/django/db/__init__.py
+++ b/django/db/__init__.py
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ class ConnectionInfo(object):
 
     def runshell(self):
         __import__('django.db.backends.%s.client' %
-                   self.settings.DATABASE_ENGINE, '', '', ['']).runshell()
+                   self.settings.DATABASE_ENGINE, '', '', ['']
+                   ).runshell(self.settings)
         
     def reset_queries(self):
         """Reset log of queries executed by connection"""
diff --git a/django/db/backends/ado_mssql/client.py b/django/db/backends/ado_mssql/client.py
index 5c197cafa4..a5bd617ff1 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/ado_mssql/client.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/ado_mssql/client.py
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-def runshell():
+def runshell(settings):
     raise NotImplementedError
diff --git a/django/db/backends/mysql/client.py b/django/db/backends/mysql/client.py
index f9d6297b8e..917437e81c 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/mysql/client.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/mysql/client.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-from django.conf import settings
 import os
 
-def runshell():
+def runshell(settings):
     args = ['']
     args += ["--user=%s" % settings.DATABASE_USER]
     if settings.DATABASE_PASSWORD:
diff --git a/django/db/backends/oracle/client.py b/django/db/backends/oracle/client.py
index 7e32ebef2f..48954fe790 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/oracle/client.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/oracle/client.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-from django.conf import settings
 import os
 
-def runshell():
+def runshell(settings):
     args = ''
     args += settings.DATABASE_USER
     if settings.DATABASE_PASSWORD:
diff --git a/django/db/backends/postgresql/client.py b/django/db/backends/postgresql/client.py
index 8123ec7848..38428a9c62 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/postgresql/client.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/postgresql/client.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
-from django.conf import settings
 import os
 
-def runshell():
+def runshell(settings):
     args = ['psql']
     if settings.DATABASE_USER:
         args += ["-U", settings.DATABASE_USER]
diff --git a/django/db/backends/sqlite3/client.py b/django/db/backends/sqlite3/client.py
index 097218341f..43978da0be 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/sqlite3/client.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/sqlite3/client.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-from django.conf import settings
 import os
 
-def runshell():
+def runshell(settings):
     args = ['', settings.DATABASE_NAME]
     os.execvp('sqlite3', args)