diff --git a/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/blr.cc b/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/blr.cc
index d43dd94c0..01660c047 100644
--- a/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/blr.cc
+++ b/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/blr.cc
@@ -807,7 +807,7 @@ static MXS_ROUTER* createInstance(SERVICE* service, MXS_CONFIG_PARAMETER* params
         {
             {"address", "_none_"},
             {"port", "3306"},
-            {"protocol", "MySQLBackend"},
+            {"protocol", "mariadbbackend"},
             {"authenticator", "MySQLBackendAuth"}
         }, config_server_params);