diff --git a/.github/workflows/github_action_test_suite.yml b/.github/workflows/github_action_test_suite.yml
index bfec647849..8d7f00c38a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/github_action_test_suite.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/github_action_test_suite.yml
@@ -38,8 +38,11 @@ jobs:
       if: ${{ matrix.TESTING_DB == 'mysql'}}
       with:
         host port: 3306
-        character set server: 'utf8mb4'
-        collation server: 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci'
+        # character set server: 'utf8mb4'
+        # collation server: 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci'
+        character set server: 'utf8'
+        collation server: 'utf8_general_ci'
+        default storage engine: 'InnoDB'
         mysql database: 'evennia'
         mysql user: 'evennia'
         mysql password: 'password'