diff --git a/packages/core/src/MikroORM.ts b/packages/core/src/MikroORM.ts
index 09384842ac70..801c8a5d5446 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/MikroORM.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/MikroORM.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export class MikroORM<D extends IDatabaseDriver = IDatabaseDriver> {
    * Initialize the ORM, load entity metadata, create EntityManager and connect to the database.
    * If you omit the `options` parameter, your CLI config will be used.
    */
-  static async init<D extends IDatabaseDriver = IDatabaseDriver>(options?: Options<D> | Configuration<D>): Promise<MikroORM<D>> {
+  static async init<D extends IDatabaseDriver = IDatabaseDriver>(options?: Options<D> | Configuration<D>, connect = true): Promise<MikroORM<D>> {
     if (!options) {
       options = await ConfigurationLoader.getConfiguration<D>();
     }
@@ -34,10 +34,13 @@ export class MikroORM<D extends IDatabaseDriver = IDatabaseDriver> {
     orm.em = orm.driver.createEntityManager<D>();
     orm.metadata.decorate(orm.em);
     orm.driver.setMetadata(orm.metadata);
-    await orm.connect();
 
-    if (orm.config.get('ensureIndexes')) {
-      await orm.driver.ensureIndexes();
+    if (connect) {
+      await orm.connect();
+
+      if (orm.config.get('ensureIndexes')) {
+        await orm.driver.ensureIndexes();
+      }
     }
 
     return orm;
diff --git a/packages/mongodb/src/MongoConnection.ts b/packages/mongodb/src/MongoConnection.ts
index 82e035b2e318..10575bdabc38 100644
--- a/packages/mongodb/src/MongoConnection.ts
+++ b/packages/mongodb/src/MongoConnection.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ export class MongoConnection extends Connection {
   }
 
   async isConnected(): Promise<boolean> {
-    return this.client.isConnected();
+    const ret = this.client?.isConnected();
+    return !!ret;
   }
 
   getCollection(name: EntityName<AnyEntity>): Collection {
diff --git a/tests/MikroORM.test.ts b/tests/MikroORM.test.ts
index 8d55c8f8744e..2f75a239a507 100644
--- a/tests/MikroORM.test.ts
+++ b/tests/MikroORM.test.ts
@@ -91,11 +91,14 @@ describe('MikroORM', () => {
     const pkg = { 'mikro-orm': { useTsNode: true } } as any;
     jest.mock('../package.json', () => pkg, { virtual: true });
 
-    const orm = await MikroORM.init();
+    const orm = await MikroORM.init(undefined, false);
 
     expect(orm).toBeInstanceOf(MikroORM);
     expect(orm.em).toBeInstanceOf(EntityManager);
     expect(Object.keys(orm.getMetadata().getAll()).sort()).toEqual(['Test']);
+    expect(await orm.isConnected()).toBe(false);
+
+    await orm.connect();
     expect(await orm.isConnected()).toBe(true);
 
     await orm.close();