diff --git a/docker-compose.travis.yml b/docker-compose.travis.yml
index ccacc1eae..5e3deee97 100644
--- a/docker-compose.travis.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.travis.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ services:
       PHOTOPRISM_HTTP_HOST: "0.0.0.0"
       PHOTOPRISM_HTTP_PORT: 2342
       PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: "mysql"
-      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DSN: "root:photoprism@tcp(photoprism-db:4001)/photoprism?parseTime=true"
+      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DSN: "root:photoprism@tcp(photoprism-db:4001)/photoprism?charset=utf8mb4,utf8&parseTime=true"
       PHOTOPRISM_TEST_DRIVER: "sqlite"
       PHOTOPRISM_TEST_DSN: ".test.db"
       PHOTOPRISM_ASSETS_PATH: "/go/src/github.com/photoprism/photoprism/assets"
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index e3c5bf5c7..273480e10 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ services:
       PHOTOPRISM_HTTP_HOST: "0.0.0.0"
       PHOTOPRISM_HTTP_PORT: 2342
       PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: "mysql"
-      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DSN: "root:photoprism@tcp(photoprism-db:4001)/photoprism?parseTime=true"
+      PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DSN: "root:photoprism@tcp(photoprism-db:4001)/photoprism?charset=utf8mb4,utf8&parseTime=true"
       PHOTOPRISM_TEST_DRIVER: "sqlite"
       PHOTOPRISM_TEST_DSN: ".test.db"
       PHOTOPRISM_ASSETS_PATH: "/go/src/github.com/photoprism/photoprism/assets"
diff --git a/docker/photoprism/arm64/docker-compose.yml b/docker/photoprism/arm64/docker-compose.yml
index 15aa2114a..15664143b 100644
--- a/docker/photoprism/arm64/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker/photoprism/arm64/docker-compose.yml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ services:
       PHOTOPRISM_WEBDAV_PASSWORD: "photoprism"       # Plain text only (username "photoprism")
       PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: "sqlite"           # Change to "mysql" for external MySQL or MariaDB
       # PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: "mysql"          # Using MariaDB or MySQL instead of SQLite is optional
-      # PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DSN: "photoprism:photoprism@tcp(photoprism-db:3306)/photoprism?parseTime=true"
+      # PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DSN: "photoprism:photoprism@tcp(photoprism-db:3306)/photoprism?charset=utf8mb4,utf8&parseTime=true"
       # PHOTOPRISM_SIDECAR_JSON: "true"              # Read metadata from JSON sidecar files created by exiftool
       # PHOTOPRISM_SIDECAR_YAML: "true"              # Backup photo metadata to YAML sidecar files
       PHOTOPRISM_SIDECAR_HIDDEN: "true"              # Create JSON and YAML sidecar files in .photoprism (if enabled)
diff --git a/docker/photoprism/docker-compose.yml b/docker/photoprism/docker-compose.yml
index 60154c0d1..a9ecd0008 100644
--- a/docker/photoprism/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker/photoprism/docker-compose.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ services:
       PHOTOPRISM_WEBDAV_PASSWORD: "photoprism"       # Plain text only (username "photoprism")
       PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: "sqlite"           # Change to "mysql" for external MySQL or MariaDB
       # PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: "mysql"          # Using MariaDB or MySQL instead of SQLite is optional
-      # PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DSN: "photoprism:photoprism@tcp(photoprism-db:3306)/photoprism?parseTime=true"
+      # PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DSN: "photoprism:photoprism@tcp(photoprism-db:3306)/photoprism?charset=utf8mb4,utf8&parseTime=true"
       # PHOTOPRISM_SIDECAR_JSON: "true"              # Read metadata from JSON sidecar files created by exiftool
       # PHOTOPRISM_SIDECAR_YAML: "true"              # Backup photo metadata to YAML sidecar files
       PHOTOPRISM_SIDECAR_HIDDEN: "true"              # Create JSON and YAML sidecar files in .photoprism (if enabled)