diff --git a/server/modules/protocol/MariaDB/mariadb_backend.cc b/server/modules/protocol/MariaDB/mariadb_backend.cc
index d0f01ce7804..1502b8f69df 100644
--- a/server/modules/protocol/MariaDB/mariadb_backend.cc
+++ b/server/modules/protocol/MariaDB/mariadb_backend.cc
@@ -1644,7 +1644,7 @@ GWBUF* MariaDBBackendConnection::gw_generate_auth_response(bool with_ssl, bool s
                                  client_data->db.c_str(),
                                  auth_plugin_name);
 
-    if (capabilities & this->server_capabilities & GW_MYSQL_CAPABILITIES_CONNECT_ATTRS)
+    if ((!with_ssl || ssl_established) && (capabilities & this->server_capabilities & GW_MYSQL_CAPABILITIES_CONNECT_ATTRS))
     {
         bytes += client_data->connect_attrs.size();
     }