SQLException when calling PreparedStatement.executeBatch() without calling addBatch()

In trying to migrate an application from MySQL to MariaDB, a user believs that they have found a bug in the MariaDB 1.3.6 java connector. If a program calls PreparedStatement.executeBatch() without any prior associated calls to PreparedStatement.addBatch() a SQLException is thrown:

java.sql.SQLException: No Parameters set. The command addBatch() must have been set

This exception is not thrown when using the MySQL connector or when using the older MariaDB 1.2.3 connector. The user's application also supports other RDBMS providers and this exception is not thrown by any of their connectors in this situation either. The Java API does not explicitly address this case in its description of the executeBatch() method but the fact that all other JDBC drivers handle this situation without an exception being thrown leads me to conclude that this is a bug with the MariaDB 1.3.6 connector.