diff --git a/include/my_global.h b/include/my_global.h
index 779152203be..e4e53aca20a 100644
--- a/include/my_global.h
+++ b/include/my_global.h
@@ -751,7 +751,7 @@ typedef SOCKET_SIZE_TYPE size_socket;
 #endif
 #define MY_NFILE	64	/* This is only used to save filenames */
 #ifndef OS_FILE_LIMIT
-#define OS_FILE_LIMIT	65535
+#define OS_FILE_LIMIT	UINT_MAX
 #endif
 
 /* #define EXT_IN_LIBNAME     */
diff --git a/mysys/my_file.c b/mysys/my_file.c
index 44bacf55307..d37da975c37 100644
--- a/mysys/my_file.c
+++ b/mysys/my_file.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static uint set_max_open_files(uint max_file_limit)
 }
 
 #else
-static int set_max_open_files(uint max_file_limit)
+static uint set_max_open_files(uint max_file_limit)
 {
   /* We don't know the limit. Return best guess */
   return min(max_file_limit, OS_FILE_LIMIT);
diff --git a/scripts/mysqld_safe.sh b/scripts/mysqld_safe.sh
index 23b5efcaf2b..e4e5f1a1510 100644
--- a/scripts/mysqld_safe.sh
+++ b/scripts/mysqld_safe.sh
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ parse_arguments() {
         ;;
       --nice=*) niceness="$val" ;;
       --open-files-limit=*) open_files="$val" ;;
+      --open_files_limit=*) open_files="$val" ;;
       --skip-kill-mysqld*) KILL_MYSQLD=0 ;;
       --syslog) want_syslog=1 ;;
       --skip-syslog) want_syslog=0 ;;
@@ -397,10 +398,14 @@ then
   if test -n "$open_files"
   then
     ulimit -n $open_files
-    append_arg_to_args "--open-files-limit=$open_files"
   fi
 fi
 
+if test -n "$open_files"
+then
+  append_arg_to_args "--open-files-limit=$open_files"
+fi
+
 safe_mysql_unix_port=${mysql_unix_port:-${MYSQL_UNIX_PORT:-@MYSQL_UNIX_ADDR@}}
 # Make sure that directory for $safe_mysql_unix_port exists
 mysql_unix_port_dir=`dirname $safe_mysql_unix_port`