diff --git a/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_driver.js b/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_driver.js
index dadf4ec5ac..ae1e393216 100644
--- a/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_driver.js
+++ b/packages/mongo-livedata/mongo_driver.js
@@ -21,10 +21,12 @@ _Mongo = function (url) {
   self._liveResultsSets = {};
 
   // Set autoReconnect on Mongo URLs by default.
-  var parsedUrl = urlModule.parse(url, true);
-  if (!_.has(parsedUrl.query, 'autoReconnect'))
-    parsedUrl.query.autoReconnect = 'true';
-  url = urlModule.format(parsedUrl);
+  if (!(/[\?&]autoReconnect/.test(url))) {
+    if (/\?/.test(url))
+      url += '&autoReconnect=true';
+    else
+      url += '?autoReconnect=true';
+  }
 
   MongoDB.connect(url, {db: {safe: true}}, function(err, db) {
     if (err)