How do I set max_allowed_packet or equivalent for MySQLdb in python?

It seems as if MySQLdb is restricting the maximum transfer size for SQL statements. I have set the max_allowed_packet to 128M for mysqld. MySQL documentation says 开发者_运维技巧that this needs to be done for the client as well.

You need to put max_allowed_packet into the [client] section of my.cnf on the machine where the client runs. If you want to, you can specify a different file or group in mysqldb.connect.