diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/pool/PoolUtilities.java b/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/pool/PoolUtilities.java
index 184c5beb..68cb993e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/pool/PoolUtilities.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/pool/PoolUtilities.java
@@ -105,23 +105,19 @@ public final class PoolUtilities
     */
    public DataSource initializeDataSource(final String dsClassName, DataSource dataSource, final Properties dataSourceProperties, final String driverClassName, final String jdbcUrl, final String username, final String password)
    {
-      try {
-         if (dataSource == null && dsClassName != null) {
-            dataSource = createInstance(dsClassName, DataSource.class);
-            PropertyBeanSetter.setTargetFromProperties(dataSource, dataSourceProperties);
-            return dataSource;
-         }
-         else if (jdbcUrl != null) {
-            return new DriverDataSource(jdbcUrl, driverClassName, dataSourceProperties, username, password);
-         }
-   
-         return dataSource;
+      if (dsClassName != null && dataSource == null) {
+         dataSource = createInstance(dsClassName, DataSource.class);
+         PropertyBeanSetter.setTargetFromProperties(dataSource, dataSourceProperties);
       }
-      finally {
-         if (dataSource != null) {
-            createNetworkTimeoutExecutor(dataSource, dsClassName, jdbcUrl);
-         }
+      else if (jdbcUrl != null && dataSource == null) {
+         dataSource = new DriverDataSource(jdbcUrl, driverClassName, dataSourceProperties, username, password);
       }
+
+      if (dataSource != null) {
+         createNetworkTimeoutExecutor(dataSource, dsClassName, jdbcUrl);
+      }
+
+      return dataSource;
    }
 
    /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/util/DriverDataSource.java b/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/util/DriverDataSource.java
index 031b6a0c..39af90cf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/util/DriverDataSource.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/util/DriverDataSource.java
@@ -27,11 +27,16 @@ import java.util.Properties;
 
 import javax.sql.DataSource;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
 public final class DriverDataSource implements DataSource
 {
+   private final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(DriverDataSource.class);
+
    private final String jdbcUrl;
    private final Properties driverProperties;
-   private final Driver driver;
+   private Driver driver;
 
    public DriverDataSource(String jdbcUrl, String driverClassName, Properties properties, String username, String password)
    {
@@ -50,29 +55,33 @@ public final class DriverDataSource implements DataSource
       }
 
       if (driverClassName != null) {
-         Driver matched = null;
          Enumeration<Driver> drivers = DriverManager.getDrivers();
          while (drivers.hasMoreElements()) {
             Driver d = drivers.nextElement();
             if (d.getClass().getName().equals(driverClassName)) {
-               matched = d;
+               this.driver = d;
                break;
             }
          }
 
-         if (matched != null) {
-            driver = matched;
-         }
-         else {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Driver with class name " + driverClassName + " was not found among registered drivers");
+         if (driver == null) {
+            LOGGER.warn("Registered driver with driverClassName={} was not found, trying direct instantiation.", driverClassName);
+            try {
+               Class<?> driverClass = this.getClass().getClassLoader().loadClass(driverClassName);
+               this.driver = (Driver) driverClass.newInstance();
+            }
+            catch (Exception e) {
+               LOGGER.warn("Could not instantiate instance of driver class {}, trying JDBC URL resolution", driverClassName, e);
+            }
          }
       }
-      else {
+
+      if (driver == null) {
          try {
             driver = DriverManager.getDriver(jdbcUrl);
          }
          catch (SQLException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException("Unable to get driver for JDBC URL " + jdbcUrl, e);
+            throw new RuntimeException("Unable to get driver instance for jdbcUrl=" + jdbcUrl, e);
          }
       }
    }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/TestJNDI.java b/src/test/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/TestJNDI.java
index 6985ceac..f6003353 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/TestJNDI.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/TestJNDI.java
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.osjava.sj.jndi.AbstractContext;
 
+import com.zaxxer.hikari.mocks.StubDataSource;
+
 public class TestJNDI
 {
    @Test
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@ public class TestJNDI
       ref.add(new BogusRef("maxLifetime", "20000"));
       ref.add(new BogusRef("maximumPoolSize", "10"));
       ref.add(new BogusRef("dataSource.loginTimeout", "10"));
-      Context nameCtx = new BogusContext();
+      Context nameCtx = new BogusContext2();
 
       HikariDataSource ds = (HikariDataSource) jndi.getObjectInstance(ref, null, nameCtx, null);
       Assert.assertNotNull(ds);
@@ -99,6 +101,21 @@ public class TestJNDI
       }
    }
 
+   private class BogusContext2 extends AbstractContext
+   {
+      @Override
+      public Context createSubcontext(Name name) throws NamingException
+      {
+         return null;
+      }
+
+      @Override
+      public Object lookup(String name) throws NamingException
+      {
+         return new StubDataSource();
+      }
+   }
+
    private class BogusRef extends RefAddr
    {
       private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;