diff --git a/src/Illuminate/Database/Connection.php b/src/Illuminate/Database/Connection.php
index e920e8fa4918..b1aedfb9015e 100755
--- a/src/Illuminate/Database/Connection.php
+++ b/src/Illuminate/Database/Connection.php
@@ -791,24 +791,28 @@ protected function tryAgainIfCausedByLostConnection(QueryException $e, $query, $
     /**
      * Disconnect from the underlying PDO connection.
      *
+     * @param  bool  $force
+     *
      * @return void
      */
-    public function disconnect()
+    public function disconnect($force = false)
     {
-        $this->setPdo(null)->setReadPdo(null);
+        $this->setPdo(null, $force)->setReadPdo(null);
     }
 
     /**
      * Reconnect to the database.
      *
+     * @param  bool  $force
+     *
      * @return void
      *
      * @throws \LogicException
      */
-    public function reconnect()
+    public function reconnect($force = false)
     {
         if (is_callable($this->reconnector)) {
-            return call_user_func($this->reconnector, $this);
+            return call_user_func($this->reconnector, $this, $force);
         }
 
         throw new LogicException('Lost connection and no reconnector available.');
@@ -981,16 +985,19 @@ public function getReadPdo()
      * Set the PDO connection.
      *
      * @param  \PDO|null  $pdo
+     * @param  bool  $force
      * @return $this
      *
      * @throws \RuntimeException
      */
-    public function setPdo($pdo)
+    public function setPdo($pdo, $force = false)
     {
-        if ($this->transactions >= 1) {
+        if ($this->transactions >= 1 && ! $force) {
             throw new RuntimeException("Can't swap PDO instance while within transaction.");
         }
 
+        $this->transactions = 0;
+
         $this->pdo = $pdo;
 
         return $this;
diff --git a/src/Illuminate/Database/DatabaseManager.php b/src/Illuminate/Database/DatabaseManager.php
index 1021507c1416..f492a68ab447 100755
--- a/src/Illuminate/Database/DatabaseManager.php
+++ b/src/Illuminate/Database/DatabaseManager.php
@@ -106,12 +106,13 @@ public function purge($name = null)
      * Disconnect from the given database.
      *
      * @param  string  $name
+     * @param  bool  $force
      * @return void
      */
-    public function disconnect($name = null)
+    public function disconnect($name = null, $force = true)
     {
         if (isset($this->connections[$name = $name ?: $this->getDefaultConnection()])) {
-            $this->connections[$name]->disconnect();
+            $this->connections[$name]->disconnect($force);
         }
     }
 
@@ -119,11 +120,12 @@ public function disconnect($name = null)
      * Reconnect to the given database.
      *
      * @param  string  $name
+     * @param  bool  $force
      * @return \Illuminate\Database\Connection
      */
-    public function reconnect($name = null)
+    public function reconnect($name = null, $force = false)
     {
-        $this->disconnect($name = $name ?: $this->getDefaultConnection());
+        $this->disconnect($name = $name ?: $this->getDefaultConnection(), $force);
 
         if (! isset($this->connections[$name])) {
             return $this->connection($name);
@@ -193,8 +195,8 @@ protected function prepare(Connection $connection)
         // Here we'll set a reconnector callback. This reconnector can be any callable
         // so we will set a Closure to reconnect from this manager with the name of
         // the connection, which will allow us to reconnect from the connections.
-        $connection->setReconnector(function ($connection) {
-            $this->reconnect($connection->getName());
+        $connection->setReconnector(function ($connection, $force = false) {
+            $this->reconnect($connection->getName(), $force);
         });
 
         return $connection;
diff --git a/tests/Database/DatabaseConnectionTest.php b/tests/Database/DatabaseConnectionTest.php
index 71b74c1b2049..89d32040e99a 100755
--- a/tests/Database/DatabaseConnectionTest.php
+++ b/tests/Database/DatabaseConnectionTest.php
@@ -135,6 +135,15 @@ public function testCantSwapPDOWithOpenTransaction()
         $connection->disconnect();
     }
 
+    public function testCanForceSwapPDOWithOpenTransaction()
+    {
+        $pdo = $this->createMock('DatabaseConnectionTestMockPDO');
+        $pdo->expects($this->once())->method('beginTransaction')->will($this->returnValue(true));
+        $connection = $this->getMockConnection([], $pdo);
+        $connection->beginTransaction();
+        $connection->disconnect(true);
+    }
+
     public function testBeganTransactionFiresEventsIfSet()
     {
         $pdo = $this->createMock('DatabaseConnectionTestMockPDO');