diff --git a/tests/docker-compose.mariadb.yml b/tests/docker-compose.mariadb.yml
index df1131f..d5dfc31 100644
--- a/tests/docker-compose.mariadb.yml
+++ b/tests/docker-compose.mariadb.yml
@@ -18,5 +18,6 @@ services:
       - "127.0.0.1:80:80"
   db:
     image: mariadb
+    command: mysqld --character-set-server=utf8mb4 --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci --character-set-client-handshake=FALSE
     environment:
       - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=wallaroot