diff --git a/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py b/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
index cfa6b0e56c..336ad89504 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
     features = DatabaseFeatures()
     ops = DatabaseOperations()
     operators = {
-        'exact': '= %s',
+        'exact': '= BINARY %s',
         'iexact': 'LIKE %s',
         'contains': 'LIKE BINARY %s',
         'icontains': 'LIKE %s',
diff --git a/django/db/backends/mysql_old/base.py b/django/db/backends/mysql_old/base.py
index adfa03d569..48b6b6958a 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/mysql_old/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/mysql_old/base.py
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class DatabaseWrapper(BaseDatabaseWrapper):
     features = DatabaseFeatures()
     ops = DatabaseOperations()
     operators = {
-        'exact': '= %s',
+        'exact': '= BINARY %s',
         'iexact': 'LIKE %s',
         'contains': 'LIKE BINARY %s',
         'icontains': 'LIKE %s',
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/string_lookup/models.py b/tests/regressiontests/string_lookup/models.py
index 1bdb2d4452..39e7955592 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/string_lookup/models.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/string_lookup/models.py
@@ -97,6 +97,12 @@ __test__ = {'API_TESTS': ur"""
 >>> Article.objects.get(text__exact='The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.')
 <Article: Article Test>
 
+# Regression tests for #2170: test case sensitiveness
+>>> Article.objects.filter(text__exact='tHe qUick bRown fOx jUmps over tHe lazy dog.')
+[]
+>>> Article.objects.filter(text__iexact='tHe qUick bRown fOx jUmps over tHe lazy dog.')
+[<Article: Article Test>]
+
 >>> Article.objects.get(text__contains='quick brown fox')
 <Article: Article Test>