diff --git a/lib/srv/db/common/errors.go b/lib/srv/db/common/errors.go
index 6b9fdca498fe8..94c657d6a2897 100644
--- a/lib/srv/db/common/errors.go
+++ b/lib/srv/db/common/errors.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package common
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"strings"
@@ -95,11 +96,17 @@ func convertPostgresError(err *pgconn.PgError) error {
 func convertMySQLError(err *mysql.MyError) error {
 	switch err.Code {
 	case mysql.ER_ACCESS_DENIED_ERROR, mysql.ER_DBACCESS_DENIED_ERROR:
-		return trace.AccessDenied(err.Error())
+		return trace.AccessDenied(fmtEscape(err))
 	}
 	return err // Return unmodified.
 }
 
+// fmtEscape escapes "%" in the original error message to prevent fmt from
+// thinking some args are missing.
+func fmtEscape(err error) string {
+	return strings.ReplaceAll(err.Error(), "%", "%%")
+}
+
 // causer defines an interface for errors wrapped by the "errors" package.
 type causer interface {
 	Cause() error
@@ -131,14 +138,15 @@ func ConvertConnectError(err error, sessionCtx *Session) error {
 		return trace.AccessDenied("Database cannot validate client certificate generated by database service: %v.", err)
 	}
 
-	err = ConvertError(err)
+	orgErr := err
+	err = ConvertError(orgErr)
 
 	if trace.IsAccessDenied(err) {
 		switch sessionCtx.Database.GetType() {
 		case types.DatabaseTypeElastiCache:
 			return createElastiCacheRedisAccessDeniedError(err, sessionCtx)
 		case types.DatabaseTypeRDS:
-			return createRDSAccessDeniedError(err, sessionCtx)
+			return createRDSAccessDeniedError(err, orgErr, sessionCtx)
 		case types.DatabaseTypeRDSProxy:
 			return createRDSProxyAccessDeniedError(err, sessionCtx)
 		case types.DatabaseTypeAzure:
@@ -175,9 +183,20 @@ take a few minutes to propagate):
 	}
 }
 
+func isRDSMySQLIAMAuthError(err error) bool {
+	if causer, ok := err.(causer); ok {
+		return isRDSMySQLIAMAuthError(causer.Cause())
+	}
+	var mysqlError *mysql.MyError
+	if !errors.As(trace.Unwrap(err), &mysqlError) {
+		return false
+	}
+	return mysqlError.Code == mysql.ER_ACCESS_DENIED_ERROR
+}
+
 // createRDSAccessDeniedError creates an error with help message to setup IAM
 // auth for RDS.
-func createRDSAccessDeniedError(err error, sessionCtx *Session) error {
+func createRDSAccessDeniedError(err, orgErr error, sessionCtx *Session) error {
 	policy, getPolicyErr := dbiam.GetReadableAWSPolicyDocument(sessionCtx.Database)
 	if getPolicyErr != nil {
 		policy = fmt.Sprintf("failed to generate IAM policy: %v", getPolicyErr)
@@ -185,6 +204,11 @@ func createRDSAccessDeniedError(err error, sessionCtx *Session) error {
 
 	switch sessionCtx.Database.GetProtocol() {
 	case defaults.ProtocolMySQL:
+		// Not all access denied errors are IAM Auth errors, so check again.
+		if !isRDSMySQLIAMAuthError(orgErr) {
+			return trace.Wrap(err)
+		}
+
 		return trace.AccessDenied(`Could not connect to database:
 
   %v
diff --git a/lib/srv/db/common/errors_test.go b/lib/srv/db/common/errors_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..49a6b40b4f6ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/srv/db/common/errors_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2023 Gravitational, Inc.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package common
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/go-mysql-org/go-mysql/mysql"
+	"github.com/gravitational/trace"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func Test_isRDSMySQLIAMAuthError(t *testing.T) {
+	iamAuthError := &mysql.MyError{
+		Code:    mysql.ER_ACCESS_DENIED_ERROR,
+		Message: "Access denied for user 'alice'@'10.0.0.197' (using password: YES)",
+		State:   "28000",
+	}
+	require.True(t, isRDSMySQLIAMAuthError(iamAuthError))
+
+	dbAccessError := &mysql.MyError{
+		Code:    mysql.ER_DBACCESS_DENIED_ERROR,
+		Message: "Access denied for user 'alice'@'%' to database 'db-no-access'",
+		State:   "42000",
+	}
+	noDBError := &mysql.MyError{
+		Code:    mysql.ER_BAD_DB_ERROR,
+		Message: "Unknown database 'db-not-exist'",
+		State:   "42000",
+	}
+	require.False(t, isRDSMySQLIAMAuthError(dbAccessError))
+	require.False(t, isRDSMySQLIAMAuthError(noDBError))
+	require.False(t, isRDSMySQLIAMAuthError(trace.AccessDenied("access denied")))
+}