diff --git a/lib/manager.js b/lib/manager.js
index 9c2d4771..f3777f88 100644
--- a/lib/manager.js
+++ b/lib/manager.js
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ function Manager (uri, opts, fn) {
 
   opts = opts || {}
 
+  if (!opts.hasOwnProperty('useNewUrlParser')) {
+    opts.useNewUrlParser = true
+  }
+
   this._collectionOptions = objectAssign({}, DEFAULT_OPTIONS, opts.collectionOptions || {})
   delete opts.collectionOptions
 
@@ -126,8 +130,6 @@ inherits(Manager, EventEmitter)
  * @private
  */
 Manager.prototype.open = function (uri, opts, fn) {
-  opts.useNewUrlParser = true
-
   MongoClient.connect(uri, opts, function (err, client) {
     if (err) {
       this._state = STATE.CLOSED
diff --git a/test/monk.js b/test/monk.js
index 45e080e6..9f1b50b4 100644
--- a/test/monk.js
+++ b/test/monk.js
@@ -154,3 +154,21 @@ test('oid from oid', (t) => {
   const oid = db.oid()
   t.is(db.oid(oid), oid)
 })
+
+test('option useNewUrlParser should be true if not specified', (t) => {
+  return monk('127.0.0.1/monk-test').then((db) => {
+    t.is(db._connectionOptions.useNewUrlParser, true)
+  })
+})
+
+test('option useNewUrlParser should be true if specified', (t) => {
+  return monk('127.0.0.1/monk-test', { useNewUrlParser: true }).then((db) => {
+    t.is(db._connectionOptions.useNewUrlParser, true)
+  })
+})
+
+test('option useNewUrlParser should have the specified value', (t) => {
+  return monk('127.0.0.1/monk-test', { useNewUrlParser: false }).then((db) => {
+    t.is(db._connectionOptions.useNewUrlParser, false)
+  })
+})