diff --git a/lib/puppet/provider/mysql.rb b/lib/puppet/provider/mysql.rb
index 097ee0f..181d788 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/provider/mysql.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/provider/mysql.rb
@@ -31,10 +31,8 @@ class Puppet::Provider::Mysql < Puppet::Provider
   end
 
   def self.mysqld_version_string
-    # we cache the result ...
-    return @mysqld_version_string unless @mysqld_version_string.nil?
-    @mysqld_version_string = Facter.value(:mysqld_version)
-    return @mysqld_version_string
+    # As the possibility of the mysqld being remote we need to allow the version string to be overridden, this can be done by facter.value as seen below. In the case that it has not been set and the facter value is nil we use the mysql -v command to ensure we report the correct version of mysql for later use cases.
+    @mysqld_version_string ||= Facter.value(:mysqld_version) || mysqld('-V')
   end
 
   def mysqld_version_string
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet/provider/mysql_user/mysql_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet/provider/mysql_user/mysql_spec.rb
index d0a25ee..e8c138d 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet/provider/mysql_user/mysql_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet/provider/mysql_user/mysql_spec.rb
@@ -205,11 +205,6 @@ usvn_user@localhost
        Facter.stubs(:value).with(:mysqld_version).returns('5.6.24')
        expect(provider.mysqld_version).to eq '5.6.24'
     end
-    it 'returns nil if the mysqld_version fact is absent' do
-       provider.class.instance_variable_set(:@mysqld_version_string, nil)
-       Facter.stubs(:value).with(:mysqld_version).returns(nil)
-       expect(provider.mysqld_version).to eq nil
-    end
     it 'returns 5.7.6 for "mysqld  Ver 5.7.6 for Linux on x86_64 (MySQL Community Server (GPL))"' do
        provider.class.instance_variable_set(:@mysqld_version_string, 'mysqld  Ver 5.7.6 for Linux on x86_64 (MySQL Community Server (GPL))')
        expect(provider.mysqld_version).to eq '5.7.6'