diff --git a/server/config/default.yaml b/server/config/default.yaml
index 14b07bf9..63769b29 100644
--- a/server/config/default.yaml
+++ b/server/config/default.yaml
@@ -124,11 +124,10 @@ mysql:
   # Some installations, eg. MAMP can use a different port (8889)
   # MAMP users should also turn on Allow network access to MySQL otherwise MySQL might not be accessible
   port: 3306
-  charset: utf8mb4
   # The timezone configured on the MySQL server. This can be 'local', 'Z', or an offset in the form +HH:MM or -HH:MM
   # If the MySQL server runs on the same server as Mailtrain, use 'local'
   timezone: local
-
+  
 verp:
   # Enable to start an MX server that detects bounced messages using VERP
   # In most cases you do not want to use it
diff --git a/server/lib/knex.js b/server/lib/knex.js
index 43cc7194..266d6c0a 100644
--- a/server/lib/knex.js
+++ b/server/lib/knex.js
@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ const knex = require('knex')({
     connection: {
         ...config.mysql,
 
-        // DATE and DATETIME types contain no timezone info. The MySQL driver tries to interpret them w.r.t. to local time, which
+	charset: 'utf8mb4',
+	multipleStatements: true,
+
+	// DATE and DATETIME types contain no timezone info. The MySQL driver tries to interpret them w.r.t. to local time, which
         // does not work well with assigning these values in UTC and handling them as if in UTC
         dateStrings: [
             'DATE',
diff --git a/server/models/lists.js b/server/models/lists.js
index ada16cf8..84282977 100644
--- a/server/models/lists.js
+++ b/server/models/lists.js
@@ -207,13 +207,13 @@ async function create(context, entity) {
 
         await knex.schema.raw('CREATE TABLE `subscription__' + id + '` (\n' +
             '  `id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,\n' +
-            '  `cid` varchar(255) CHARACTER SET ascii NOT NULL,\n' +
-            '  `email` varchar(255) CHARACTER SET utf8 DEFAULT NULL,\n' +
-            '  `hash_email` varchar(255) CHARACTER SET ascii NOT NULL,\n' +
+            '  `cid` varchar(255) NOT NULL,\n' +
+            '  `email` varchar(255) DEFAULT NULL,\n' +
+            '  `hash_email` varchar(255) NOT NULL,\n' +
             '  `source_email` int(11) DEFAULT NULL,\n' +  // Altough this is a reference to an import, it is represented as signed int(11). This is because we use negative values for constant from SubscriptionSource
             '  `opt_in_ip` varchar(100) DEFAULT NULL,\n' +
             '  `opt_in_country` varchar(2) DEFAULT NULL,\n' +
-            '  `tz` varchar(100) CHARACTER SET ascii DEFAULT NULL,\n' +
+            '  `tz` varchar(100) DEFAULT NULL,\n' +
             '  `status` tinyint(4) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT \'1\',\n' +
             '  `is_test` tinyint(4) unsigned NOT NULL DEFAULT \'0\',\n' +
             '  `status_change` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL,\n' +
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ async function create(context, entity) {
             '  KEY `latest_click` (`latest_click`),\n' +
             '  KEY `created` (`created`),\n' +
             '  KEY `updated` (`updated`)\n' +
-            ') ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4;\n');
+            ') ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;\n');
 
         await shares.rebuildPermissionsTx(tx, { entityTypeId: 'list', entityId: id });
 
diff --git a/server/setup/knex/knexfile.js b/server/setup/knex/knexfile.js
index ecb9416e..82622aea 100644
--- a/server/setup/knex/knexfile.js
+++ b/server/setup/knex/knexfile.js
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 'use strict';
 
-const config = require('./config');
+let config = require('./config');
+
+config.mysql.charset="utf8mb4";
+config.mysql.multipleStatements=true;
+
 
 module.exports = {
     client: 'mysql',
diff --git a/server/setup/knex/migrations/20200824160149_convert_to_utf8mb4.js b/server/setup/knex/migrations/20200824160149_convert_to_utf8mb4.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e1a184f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/setup/knex/migrations/20200824160149_convert_to_utf8mb4.js
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+
+exports.up = function(knex, Promise) {
+  return knex.raw('SELECT table_name FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema = ?', [knex.client.database()])
+    .then(function(tablas) {
+       let sql="";
+       tablas=tablas[0];
+       for(let i=0; i<tablas.length; i++) {
+	 sql+="ALTER TABLE "+tablas[i].table_name+" CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;";
+       }
+       //console.log(sql);
+       return knex.raw(sql);
+    });
+};
+
+exports.down = function(knex, Promise) {
+  
+};
diff --git a/setup/functions b/setup/functions
index fc691c28..66cd8cc2 100644
--- a/setup/functions
+++ b/setup/functions
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ function installMailtrain {
     mysql -u root -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mailtrain.* TO 'mailtrain'@'localhost';"
     mysql -u root -e "CREATE USER 'mailtrain_ro'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '$mysqlRoPassword';"
     mysql -u root -e "GRANT SELECT ON mailtrain.* TO 'mailtrain_ro'@'localhost';"
-    mysql -u mailtrain --password="$mysqlPassword" -e "CREATE database mailtrain;"
+    mysql -u mailtrain --password="$mysqlPassword" -e "CREATE DATABASE mailtrain CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;"
     
     # Add new user for the mailtrain daemon to run as
     useradd mailtrain || true