diff --git a/lib/discovery.js b/lib/discovery.js
index 159384f..336a3f3 100644
--- a/lib/discovery.js
+++ b/lib/discovery.js
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ function mixinDiscovery(MySQL, mysql) {
         ' character_maximum_length AS "dataLength",' +
         ' numeric_precision AS "dataPrecision",' +
         ' numeric_scale AS "dataScale",' +
+        ' column_type AS "columnType",' +
         ' is_nullable = \'YES\' AS "nullable"' +
         ' FROM information_schema.columns' +
         ' WHERE table_schema=' + mysql.escape(schema) +
@@ -216,6 +217,7 @@ function mixinDiscovery(MySQL, mysql) {
         ' character_maximum_length AS "dataLength",' +
         ' numeric_precision AS "dataPrecision",' +
         ' numeric_scale AS "dataScale",' +
+        ' column_type AS "columnType",' +
         ' is_nullable = \'YES\' AS "nullable"' +
         ' FROM information_schema.columns' +
         (table ? ' WHERE table_name=' + mysql.escape(table) : ''),
@@ -240,6 +242,22 @@ function mixinDiscovery(MySQL, mysql) {
     }
     table = args.table;
     options = args.options;
+
+    // Recommended MySQL 5.7 Boolean scheme. See
+    // http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/numeric-type-overview.html
+    // Currently default is the inverse of the recommendation for backward compatibility.
+    var defaultOptions = {
+      treatCHAR1AsString: false,
+      treatBIT1AsBit: true,
+      treatTINYINT1AsTinyInt: true,
+    };
+
+    for (var opt in defaultOptions) {
+      if (defaultOptions.hasOwnProperty(opt) && !options.hasOwnProperty(opt)) {
+        options[opt] = defaultOptions[opt];
+      }
+    }
+
     cb = args.cb;
 
     var sql = queryColumns(schema, table);
@@ -248,7 +266,7 @@ function mixinDiscovery(MySQL, mysql) {
         cb(err, results);
       } else {
         results.map(function(r) {
-          r.type = self.buildPropertyType(r);
+          r.type = self.buildPropertyType(r, options);
           r.nullable = r.nullable ? 'Y' : 'N';
         });
         cb(err, results);
@@ -404,20 +422,18 @@ function mixinDiscovery(MySQL, mysql) {
     this.execute(sql, cb);
   };
 
-  MySQL.prototype.buildPropertyType = function(columnDefinition) {
+  MySQL.prototype.buildPropertyType = function(columnDefinition, options) {
     var mysqlType = columnDefinition.dataType;
+    var columnType = columnDefinition.columnType;
     var dataLength = columnDefinition.dataLength;
 
     var type = mysqlType.toUpperCase();
     switch (type) {
       case 'CHAR':
-        if (dataLength === 1) {
-          // Treat char(1) as boolean
+        if (!options.treatCHAR1AsString && columnType === 'char(1)') {
+          // Treat char(1) as boolean  ('Y', 'N', 'T', 'F', '0', '1')
           return 'Boolean';
-        } else {
-          return 'String';
         }
-        break;
       case 'VARCHAR':
       case 'TINYTEXT':
       case 'MEDIUMTEXT':
@@ -433,8 +449,16 @@ function mixinDiscovery(MySQL, mysql) {
       case 'BINARY':
       case 'VARBINARY':
       case 'BIT':
+        // treat BIT(1) as boolean as it's 1 or 0
+        if (!options.treatBIT1AsBit && columnType === 'bit(1)') {
+          return 'Boolean';
+        }
         return 'Binary';
       case 'TINYINT':
+        // treat TINYINT(1) as boolean as it is aliased as BOOL and BOOLEAN in mysql
+        if (!options.treatTINYINT1AsTinyInt && columnType === 'tinyint(1)') {
+          return 'Boolean';
+        }
       case 'SMALLINT':
       case 'INT':
       case 'MEDIUMINT':
@@ -449,6 +473,9 @@ function mixinDiscovery(MySQL, mysql) {
         return 'Date';
       case 'POINT':
         return 'GeoPoint';
+      case 'BOOL':
+      case 'BOOLEAN':
+        return 'Boolean';
       default:
         return 'String';
     }
diff --git a/test/mysql.discover.test.js b/test/mysql.discover.test.js
index 9e83723..5c176fd 100644
--- a/test/mysql.discover.test.js
+++ b/test/mysql.discover.test.js
@@ -271,4 +271,138 @@ describe('Discover and build models', function() {
       done();
     });
   });
+
+  describe('discoverModelProperties() flags', function() {
+    context('with default flags', function() {
+      var models, schema;
+      before(discoverAndBuildModels);
+
+      it('handles CHAR(1) as Boolean', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.enabled);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.enabled.type, Boolean);
+      });
+
+      it('handles BIT(1) as Bit', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.disabled);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.disabled.type, Buffer);
+      });
+
+      it('handles TINYINT(1) as Number', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.active);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.active.type, Number);
+      });
+
+      function discoverAndBuildModels(done) {
+        db.discoverAndBuildModels('INVENTORY', {
+          owner: 'STRONGLOOP',
+          visited: {},
+          associations: true,
+        }, function(err, models_) {
+          models = models_;
+          schema = models.Inventory.definition;
+          done(err);
+        });
+      }
+    });
+
+    context('with flag treatCHAR1AsString = true', function() {
+      var models, schema;
+      before(discoverAndBuildModels);
+
+      it('handles CHAR(1) as String', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.enabled);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.enabled.type, String);
+      });
+
+      it('handles BIT(1) as Binary', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.disabled);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.disabled.type, Buffer);
+      });
+
+      it('handles TINYINT(1) as Number', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.active);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.active.type, Number);
+      });
+
+      function discoverAndBuildModels(done) {
+        db.discoverAndBuildModels('INVENTORY', {
+          owner: 'STRONGLOOP',
+          visited: {},
+          associations: true,
+          treatCHAR1AsString: true,
+        }, function(err, models_) {
+          models = models_;
+          schema = models.Inventory.definition;
+          done(err);
+        });
+      }
+    });
+
+    context('with flag treatBIT1AsBit = false', function() {
+      var models, schema;
+      before(discoverAndBuildModels);
+
+      it('handles CHAR(1) as Boolean', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.enabled);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.enabled.type, Boolean);
+      });
+
+      it('handles BIT(1) as Boolean', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.disabled);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.disabled.type, Boolean);
+      });
+
+      it('handles TINYINT(1) as Number', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.active);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.active.type, Number);
+      });
+
+      function discoverAndBuildModels(done) {
+        db.discoverAndBuildModels('INVENTORY', {
+          owner: 'STRONGLOOP',
+          visited: {},
+          associations: true,
+          treatBIT1AsBit: false,
+        }, function(err, models_) {
+          models = models_;
+          schema = models.Inventory.definition;
+          done(err);
+        });
+      }
+    });
+
+    context('with flag treatTINYINT1AsTinyInt = false', function() {
+      var models, schema;
+      before(discoverAndBuildModels);
+
+      it('handles CHAR(1) as Boolean', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.enabled);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.enabled.type, Boolean);
+      });
+
+      it('handles BIT(1) as Binary', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.disabled);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.disabled.type, Buffer);
+      });
+
+      it('handles TINYINT(1) as Boolean', function() {
+        assert(schema.properties.active);
+        assert.strictEqual(schema.properties.active.type, Boolean);
+      });
+
+      function discoverAndBuildModels(done) {
+        db.discoverAndBuildModels('INVENTORY', {
+          owner: 'STRONGLOOP',
+          visited: {},
+          associations: true,
+          treatTINYINT1AsTinyInt: false,
+        }, function(err, models_) {
+          if (err) return done(err);
+          models = models_;
+          schema = models.Inventory.definition;
+          done();
+        });
+      }
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/schema.sql b/test/schema.sql
index 5c69b58..3f10afb 100644
--- a/test/schema.sql
+++ b/test/schema.sql
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ CREATE TABLE `INVENTORY` (
   `LOCATION_ID` varchar(20) NOT NULL,
   `AVAILABLE` int(11) DEFAULT NULL,
   `TOTAL` int(11) DEFAULT NULL,
+  `ACTIVE` BOOLEAN DEFAULT TRUE,
+  `DISABLED` BIT(1) DEFAULT 0,
+  `ENABLED` CHAR(1) DEFAULT 'Y',
   PRIMARY KEY (`PRODUCT_ID`,`LOCATION_ID`),
   KEY `LOCATION_FK` (`LOCATION_ID`)
 ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;