diff --git a/src/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php b/src/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php
index aeb9679937935..997df462a13ff 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php
@@ -2114,7 +2114,8 @@ public function parse_db_host( $host ) {
 	 * @return bool|void True if the connection is up.
 	 */
 	public function check_connection( $allow_bail = true ) {
-		if ( ! empty( $this->dbh ) && mysqli_ping( $this->dbh ) ) {
+		// Check if the connection is alive.
+		if ( ! empty( $this->dbh ) && mysqli_query( $this->dbh, 'DO 1' ) !== false ) {
 			return true;
 		}
 
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/db.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/db.php
index 6c9bc91c85159..3e06afcc1bf2c 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/db.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/db.php
@@ -2455,4 +2455,15 @@ public function test_use_mysqli_property_access() {
 
 		$this->assertTrue( $wpdb->use_mysqli );
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Verify "pinging" the database works cross-version PHP.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 62061
+	 */
+	public function test_check_connection_returns_true_when_there_is_a_connection() {
+		global $wpdb;
+
+		$this->assertTrue( $wpdb->check_connection( false ) );
+	}
 }