diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 17796666..d445b936 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 2007-11-09  Daniele Varrazzo  <daniele.varrazzo@gmail.com>
 
-	* Use escape string syntax for binary escape if connected with a
-	  server with ver >= 8.2.
-
-	  The feature is only enabled when compiling psycopg with libpq
-	  ver >= 8.0.
+	* Use escape string syntax for binary escape if connected to a
+	  server requiring it.
 
 	* Put a limit on the number of notices stored in the connection.
 
diff --git a/psycopg/adapter_binary.c b/psycopg/adapter_binary.c
index de41a839..eaea99ad 100644
--- a/psycopg/adapter_binary.c
+++ b/psycopg/adapter_binary.c
@@ -139,15 +139,35 @@ binary_quote(binaryObject *self)
     size_t len = 0;
     PGconn *pgconn = NULL;
     const char *quotes = "'%s'";
+    const char *scs;
 
     /* if we got a plain string or a buffer we escape it and save the buffer */
     if (PyString_Check(self->wrapped) || PyBuffer_Check(self->wrapped)) {
         /* escape and build quoted buffer */
         PyObject_AsCharBuffer(self->wrapped, &buffer, &buffer_len);
 
-        if (self->conn)
+        if (self->conn) {
             pgconn = ((connectionObject*)self->conn)->pgconn;
 
+            /*
+             * The presence of the 'standard_conforming_strings' parameters
+             * means that the server _accepts_ the E'' quote.
+             *
+             * If the paramer is off, the PQescapeByteaConn returns
+             * backslash escaped strings (e.g. '\001' -> "\\001"),
+             * so the E'' quotes are required to avoid warnings
+             * if 'escape_string_warning' is set.
+             *
+             * If the parameter is on, the PQescapeByteaConn returns
+             * not escaped strings (e.g. '\001' -> "\001"), relying on the
+             * fact that the '\' will pass untouched the string parser.
+             * In this case the E'' quotes are NOT to be used.
+             */
+            scs = PQparameterStatus(pgconn, "standard_conforming_strings");
+            if (scs && (0 == strcmp("off", scs)))
+                quotes = "E'%s'";
+        }
+
         to = (char *)binary_escape((unsigned char*)buffer, (size_t) buffer_len,
             &len, pgconn);
         if (to == NULL) {
@@ -155,24 +175,8 @@ binary_quote(binaryObject *self)
             return NULL;
         }
 
-        if (len > 0) {
-            /*
-             * Backslashes in non-escape (non-E'') strings raise warnings
-             * by default in PostgreSQL >= 8.2
-             *
-             * http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/static/sql-syntax-lexical.html
-             *      #SQL-SYNTAX-STRINGS
-             *
-             * Before PG 8.0 there was no PQserverVersion:
-             * PQparameterStatus(pgconn, "server_version") can be used,
-             * but it's harder to compare with.
-             */
-#if PG_MAJOR_VERSION >= 8
-            if (pgconn && (PQserverVersion(pgconn) >= 80200))
-                quotes = "E'%s'";
-#endif
+        if (len > 0)
             self->buffer = PyString_FromFormat(quotes, to);
-        }
         else
             self->buffer = PyString_FromString("''");