diff --git a/.travis/mysql_settings.py b/.travis/mysql_settings.py
index 1ee080a989..c4ec79d0e6 100644
--- a/.travis/mysql_settings.py
+++ b/.travis/mysql_settings.py
@@ -47,14 +47,14 @@ DATABASES = {
         'HOST': 'localhost',
         'PORT': '',  # use default port
         'OPTIONS': {
-            # 'read_default_file': '.travis/my.conf',
-            'charset': 'utf8mb4'
+            'charset': 'utf8mb4',
+            'init_command': 'set collation_connection=utf8mb4_unicode_ci'
         },
         'TEST': {
             'NAME': 'default',
             'OPTIONS': {
-                # 'read_default_file': '.travis/my.conf'
-                'charset': 'utf8mb4'
+                'charset': 'utf8mb4',
+                'init_command': 'set collation_connection=utf8mb4_unicode_ci'
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/evennia/server/tests/test_server.py b/evennia/server/tests/test_server.py
index 89896b9157..bc971af7a4 100644
--- a/evennia/server/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/evennia/server/tests/test_server.py
@@ -9,14 +9,6 @@ from django.test import override_settings
 from evennia.utils.test_resources import unload_module
 
 
-class TestDatabase(TestCase):
-    def test_database(self):
-
-        import subprocess
-        # subprocess.call(["mysql", "-u", "root", '-e "SHOW TABLE STATUS;"', "evennia"], shell=True)
-        subprocess.call("mysql -u root -e \"SHOW TABLE STATUS;\" evennia", shell=True)
-
-
 @patch("evennia.server.server.LoopingCall", new=MagicMock())
 class TestServer(TestCase):
     """
diff --git a/evennia/server/validators.py b/evennia/server/validators.py
index f58b44e6eb..faa1aa68c8 100644
--- a/evennia/server/validators.py
+++ b/evennia/server/validators.py
@@ -31,9 +31,7 @@ class EvenniaUsernameAvailabilityValidator:
             )
 
         # Check database
-        exists = AccountDB.objects.filter(username__iexact=username)
-        print("\nusernamevalidator query: {}".format(exists.query))
-        exists = exists.exists()
+        exists = AccountDB.objects.filter(username__iexact=username).exists()
         if exists:
             raise ValidationError(
                 _('Sorry, that username is already taken.'),