diff --git a/photoprism/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/99-run.sh b/photoprism/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/99-run.sh
index b28fec7af..8620c6cf6 100644
--- a/photoprism/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/99-run.sh
+++ b/photoprism/rootfs/etc/cont-init.d/99-run.sh
@@ -42,9 +42,10 @@ case $(bashio::config 'DB_TYPE') in
         bashio::log.warning "Please ensure this is included in your backups"
         bashio::log.warning "Uninstalling the MariaDB addon will remove any data"
 
+        # Create database
         mysql --host="$(bashio::services 'mysql' 'host')" --port="$(bashio::services 'mysql' 'port')" --user="$PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_USER" --password="$PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_PASSWORD" -e"CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS $PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_NAME;"
-        #mysql --host="$(bashio::services 'mysql' 'host')" --port="$(bashio::services 'mysql' 'port')" --user="$PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_USER" --password="$PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_PASSWORD" -e"CHARACTER SET = utf8mb4;" || true
-        #mysql --host="$(bashio::services 'mysql' 'host')" --port="$(bashio::services 'mysql' 'port')" --user="$PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_USER" --password="$PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_PASSWORD" -e"COLLATE = utf8mb4_unicode_ci;" || true
+        # Force character set
+        mysql --host="$(bashio::services 'mysql' 'host')" --port="$(bashio::services 'mysql' 'port')" --user="$PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_USER" --password="$PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_PASSWORD" -e"ALTER DATABASE $PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_NAME CHARACTER SET = utf8mb4 COLLATE = utf8mb4_unicode_ci;" || true
         ;;
 esac