DBD::mysql::db do failed: The used command is not allowed with this MySQL version

Our nightly etl process loads a whole lot of data from local files. The recent upgrade of mysql from 5.0.45 --> 5.0.67 was throwing this error

"DBD::mysql::db do failed: The used command is not allowed with this MySQL version"

when using the mysql 'LOAD LOCAL FILE' command. We are not entirely sure if this is an issue caused by the mysql upgrade or an outdated perl DBD:Mysql module. MySQL server has the local_infile set to ON via a show variables command (see below) and user has the FILE permission to the local file. A reinstall of the DBD:Mysql module also did not resolve the issue.

mysql> show variables like 'local%';
+---------------+-------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+---------------+-------+
| local_infile  | ON    | 
+---------------+-------+

Looking online we came through various links that suggested we needed to specify a option "mysql_local_infile" while connecting to mysql via the DBD:Mysql module. This seemed to resolve our issue.

use strict;
use DBI;
my $dsn = "DBI:mysql:mydb;mysql_local_infile=1"; 
my $user = "me";
my $password = "secret";
my $dbh = DBI->connect($dsn,$user,$password);

References:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/load-data-local.html
http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=728472
http://www.bigresource.com/MYSQL-LOAD-DATA-INFILE-command-to-import-a-text-f
ile-rODHiNex.html