diff --git a/docs/scripts.txt b/docs/scripts.txt
index c6fa674cec8..178bb157bbe 100644
--- a/docs/scripts.txt
+++ b/docs/scripts.txt
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ Primary scripts:
     To save the profiling information in the database (required to use this
     script), you have to modify StartProfiler.php to use the Profiler class and
     not the stub profiler which is enabled by default.
-    You will also need to set $wgProfileToDatabase to true in LocalSettings.php
+    You will also need to set $wgProfiler['output'] to 'db' in LocalSettings.php
     to force the profiler to save the informations in the database and apply the
     maintenance/archives/patch-profiling.sql patch to the database.
 
diff --git a/includes/installer/DatabaseUpdater.php b/includes/installer/DatabaseUpdater.php
index dac43371a53..a5540dbb11c 100644
--- a/includes/installer/DatabaseUpdater.php
+++ b/includes/installer/DatabaseUpdater.php
@@ -1058,6 +1058,31 @@ abstract class DatabaseUpdater {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Enable profiling table when it's turned on
+	 */
+	protected function doEnableProfiling() {
+		global $wgProfiler;
+
+		if ( !$this->doTable( 'profiling' ) ) {
+			return true;
+		}
+
+		$profileToDb = false;
+		if ( isset( $wgProfiler['output'] ) ) {
+			$out = $wgProfiler['output'];
+			if ( $out === 'db' ) {
+				$profileToDb = true;
+			} elseif( is_array( $out ) && in_array( 'db', $out ) ) {
+				$profileToDb = true;
+			}
+		}
+
+		if ( $profileToDb && !$this->db->tableExists( 'profiling', __METHOD__ ) ) {
+			$this->applyPatch( 'patch-profiling.sql', false, 'Add profiling table' );
+		}
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Rebuilds the localisation cache
 	 */
diff --git a/includes/installer/MysqlUpdater.php b/includes/installer/MysqlUpdater.php
index 990b5b031ef..c3dedbcbdbd 100644
--- a/includes/installer/MysqlUpdater.php
+++ b/includes/installer/MysqlUpdater.php
@@ -924,18 +924,6 @@ class MysqlUpdater extends DatabaseUpdater {
 		}
 	}
 
-	protected function doEnableProfiling() {
-		global $wgProfileToDatabase;
-
-		if ( !$this->doTable( 'profiling' ) ) {
-			return true;
-		}
-
-		if ( $wgProfileToDatabase === true && !$this->db->tableExists( 'profiling', __METHOD__ ) ) {
-			$this->applyPatch( 'patch-profiling.sql', false, 'Add profiling table' );
-		}
-	}
-
 	protected function doMaybeProfilingMemoryUpdate() {
 		if ( !$this->doTable( 'profiling' ) ) {
 			return true;
diff --git a/includes/installer/SqliteUpdater.php b/includes/installer/SqliteUpdater.php
index ab5ab7d79e7..91cbb04e58e 100644
--- a/includes/installer/SqliteUpdater.php
+++ b/includes/installer/SqliteUpdater.php
@@ -168,11 +168,4 @@ class SqliteUpdater extends DatabaseUpdater {
 			$this->output( "...fulltext search table appears to be in order.\n" );
 		}
 	}
-
-	protected function doEnableProfiling() {
-		global $wgProfileToDatabase;
-		if ( $wgProfileToDatabase === true && !$this->db->tableExists( 'profiling', __METHOD__ ) ) {
-			$this->applyPatch( 'patch-profiling.sql', false, 'Add profiling table' );
-		}
-	}
 }
diff --git a/profileinfo.php b/profileinfo.php
index b930f42fcf5..4e3fb5ad28c 100644
--- a/profileinfo.php
+++ b/profileinfo.php
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
 ini_set( 'zlib.output_compression', 'off' );
 
-$wgEnableProfileInfo = $wgProfileToDatabase = false;
+$wgEnableProfileInfo = false;
 require __DIR__ . '/includes/WebStart.php';
 
 header( 'Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8' );
@@ -149,8 +149,8 @@ $dbr = wfGetDB( DB_SLAVE );
 
 if ( !$dbr->tableExists( 'profiling' ) ) {
 	echo '<p>No <code>profiling</code> table exists, so we can\'t show you anything.</p>'
-		. '<p>If you want to log profiling data, enable <code>$wgProfileToDatabase</code>'
-		. ' in your LocalSettings.php and run <code>maintenance/update.php</code> to'
+		. '<p>If you want to log profiling data, enable <code>$wgProfiler[\'output\'] = \'db\'</code>'
+		. ' in your StartProfiler.php and run <code>maintenance/update.php</code> to'
 		. ' create the profiling table.'
 		. '</body></html>';
 	exit( 1 );
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/includes/db/DatabaseSqliteTest.php b/tests/phpunit/includes/db/DatabaseSqliteTest.php
index 98b4ca046cf..588e5440879 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/includes/db/DatabaseSqliteTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/includes/db/DatabaseSqliteTest.php
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ class DatabaseSqliteTest extends MediaWikiTestCase {
 	 * @todo Currently only checks list of tables
 	 */
 	public function testUpgrades() {
-		global $IP, $wgVersion, $wgProfileToDatabase;
+		global $IP, $wgVersion, $wgProfiler;
 
 		// Versions tested
 		$versions = array(
@@ -291,7 +291,18 @@ class DatabaseSqliteTest extends MediaWikiTestCase {
 
 		$currentDB = new DatabaseSqliteStandalone( ':memory:' );
 		$currentDB->sourceFile( "$IP/maintenance/tables.sql" );
-		if ( $wgProfileToDatabase ) {
+
+		$profileToDb = false;
+		if ( isset( $wgProfiler['output'] ) ) {
+			$out = $wgProfiler['output'];
+			if ( $out === 'db' ) {
+				$profileToDb = true;
+			} elseif( is_array( $out ) && in_array( 'db', $out ) ) {
+				$profileToDb = true;
+			}
+		}
+
+		if ( $profileToDb ) {
 			$currentDB->sourceFile( "$IP/maintenance/sqlite/archives/patch-profiling.sql" );
 		}
 		$currentTables = $this->getTables( $currentDB );