diff --git a/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/codeInsight/PyInjectionUtil.java b/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/codeInsight/PyInjectionUtil.java
index 6030afc5a158..fe51d6468fd5 100644
--- a/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/codeInsight/PyInjectionUtil.java
+++ b/python/src/com/jetbrains/python/codeInsight/PyInjectionUtil.java
@@ -81,7 +81,8 @@ public class PyInjectionUtil {
    */
   @NotNull
   public static InjectionResult registerStringLiteralInjection(@NotNull PsiElement element, @NotNull MultiHostRegistrar registrar) {
-    return processStringLiteral(element, registrar, "", "", Formatting.NONE);
+    // Assume percent formatting since the MySQL parser cannot handle Python-style substitutions
+    return processStringLiteral(element, registrar, "", "", Formatting.PERCENT);
   }
 
   private static boolean isStringLiteralPart(@NotNull PsiElement element, @Nullable PsiElement context) {