diff --git a/frappe/database.py b/frappe/database.py
index 80cdc19d22..9b9e9e1446 100644
--- a/frappe/database.py
+++ b/frappe/database.py
@@ -53,8 +53,20 @@ class Database:
 	def connect(self):
 		"""Connects to a database as set in `site_config.json`."""
 		warnings.filterwarnings('ignore', category=MySQLdb.Warning)
-		self._conn = MySQLdb.connect(user=self.user, host=self.host, passwd=self.password,
-			use_unicode=True, charset='utf8mb4')
+		usessl = 0
+		if frappe.conf.db_ssl_ca and frappe.conf.db_ssl_cert and frappe.conf.db_ssl_key:
+			usessl = 1
+			self.ssl = {
+				'ca':frappe.conf.db_ssl_ca,
+				'cert':frappe.conf.db_ssl_cert,
+				'key':frappe.conf.db_ssl_key
+			}
+		if usessl:
+			self._conn = MySQLdb.connect(user=self.user, host=self.host, passwd=self.password,
+				use_unicode=True, charset='utf8mb4', ssl=self.ssl)
+		else:
+			self._conn = MySQLdb.connect(user=self.user, host=self.host, passwd=self.password,
+				use_unicode=True, charset='utf8mb4')
 		self._conn.converter[246]=float
 		self._conn.converter[12]=get_datetime
 		self._conn.encoders[UnicodeWithAttrs] = self._conn.encoders[UnicodeType]
diff --git a/frappe/docs/user/en/guides/basics/site_config.md b/frappe/docs/user/en/guides/basics/site_config.md
index 4ed73239f1..cf56db9e9a 100755
--- a/frappe/docs/user/en/guides/basics/site_config.md
+++ b/frappe/docs/user/en/guides/basics/site_config.md
@@ -20,13 +20,20 @@ Example:
 
 ### Optional Settings
 
-- `db_host`: Database host if not `localhost`.
 - `admin_password`: Default Password for "Administrator".
 - `mute_emails`: Stops email sending if true.
 - `deny_multiple_logins`: Stop users from having more than one active session.
 - `root_password`: MariaDB root password.
 
-### Defaut Outgoing Email Settings
+### Remote Database Host Settings
+- `db_host`: Database host if not `localhost`.
+
+To connect to a remote database server using ssl, you must first configure the database host to accept SSL connections. An example of how to do this is available at https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-configure-ssl-tls-for-mysql-on-ubuntu-16-04. After you do the configuration, set the following three options. All options must be set for Frappe to attempt to connect using SSL.
+- `db_ssl_ca`: Full path to the ca.pem file used for connecting to a database host using ssl. Example value is `"/etc/mysql/ssl/ca.pem"`.
+- `db_ssl_cert`: Full path to the cert.pem file used for connecting to a database host using ssl. Example value is `"/etc/mysql/ssl/client-cert.pem"`.
+- `db_ssl_key`: Full path to the key.pem file used for connecting to a database host using ssl. Example value is `"/etc/mysql/ssl/client-key.pem"`.
+
+### Default Outgoing Email Settings
 
 - `mail_server`: SMTP server hostname.
 - `mail_port`: STMP port.