diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/sqlstore.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/sqlstore.go
index 457e83551f9..e3465bc765a 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/sqlstore.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/sqlstore.go
@@ -236,7 +236,8 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) buildConnectionString() (string, error) {
 		}
 
 		if isolation := ss.dbCfg.IsolationLevel; isolation != "" {
-			cnnstr += "&tx_isolation=" + isolation
+			val := url.QueryEscape(fmt.Sprintf("'%s'", isolation))
+			cnnstr += fmt.Sprintf("&tx_isolation=%s", val)
 		}
 
 		cnnstr += ss.buildExtraConnectionString('&')