diff --git a/.env-dist b/.env-dist
index e1069f6..5b6ff94 100644
--- a/.env-dist
+++ b/.env-dist
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ DEBUG=True
 DEV=True
 ANON_ALWAYS=False
 SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE=False
-DATABASE_URL='mysql://moderator:moderator@mariadb:3306/moderator'
+DATABASE_URL='mysql://moderator:moderator@mariadb:3306/moderator?charset=utf8mb4'
 SITE_URL='http://127.0.0.1:8000'
 ALLOWED_HOSTS=*
-ENABLE_DEV_LOGIN=True
\ No newline at end of file
+ENABLE_DEV_LOGIN=True