Connecting to a service that is not a MySQL server

When trying to connect to a running service that is not a MySQL server of any 'flavour' (like an Apache server) the MariaDB API returns the error "lost connection during query". The error raised by Oracle API complains about "initial communication packet" mismatch. Oracle's error message tells that the problem was with the handshake. MariaDB's gives the wrong impression that connection was successfull and a query actually sent to the server.