How do I change the MySQL sql_mode to '' (empty string) via PHP?

Using MySQL 5.7, I have tried the following, none have worked: A symbolic link in /etc/mysql/conf.d AND /etc/mysql/mysqlconf.d with the following: (Why are there two directories!??!) [mysqld] sql-mode="" And each of these lines in the PHP code after every single new mysqli() $databaseLink->set_opt("sql_mode", ""); or $databaseLink->query("SET GLOBAL sql_mode="";"); or $databaseLink->options(MYSQLI_INIT_COMMAND, "SET GLOBAL SQL_MODE="""); I'm dying, i'm spending hours trying to set one effing variable. I've purged and I've deleted all my conf files and re-installed mysql. BTW, it does work if I do: $ sudo mysql -u root SET GLOBAL sql_mode = ""; SELECT @@sql_mode;