diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-database/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-database/action.yml
index f1c856fc3f..b99642e944 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-database/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-database/action.yml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ runs:
         # The user 'evennia' is already created by the action for hosts: localhost, 127.0.0.1, and ::1
         # We just need to create the database and grant additional privileges.
         mysql -u root -proot_password mysql <<EOF
-        CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS evennia CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
+        CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS evennia CHARACTER SET utf8mb3 COLLATE utf8mb3_unicode_ci;
         -- Grant privileges to existing user hosts (action creates: localhost, 127.0.0.1, ::1)
         GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON \`evennia%\`.* TO 'evennia'@'localhost';
         GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON \`evennia%\`.* TO 'evennia'@'127.0.0.1';
diff --git a/.github/workflows/github_action_test_suite.yml b/.github/workflows/github_action_test_suite.yml
index 6946fb7734..b6a943c3f7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/github_action_test_suite.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/github_action_test_suite.yml
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ jobs:
           password: password
           my-cnf: |
             [mysqld]
-            character-set-server=utf8mb4
-            collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci
+            character-set-server=utf8mb3
+            collation-server=utf8mb3_unicode_ci
             innodb_default_row_format=DYNAMIC
             innodb_file_per_table=1
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/mysql_settings.py b/.github/workflows/mysql_settings.py
index 9fb4213a33..6105f8009e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/mysql_settings.py
+++ b/.github/workflows/mysql_settings.py
@@ -47,21 +47,21 @@ DATABASES = {
         "HOST": "127.0.0.1",
         "PORT": "",  # use default port
         "OPTIONS": {
-            "charset": "utf8mb4",
+            "charset": "utf8mb3",
             # Note: MySQL server global settings (character set, collation, row format) are set
             # in setup-database action before migrations run. The init_command sets per-connection
             # variables that don't require special privileges.
             "init_command": (
-                "SET collation_connection=utf8mb4_unicode_ci, "
+                "SET collation_connection=utf8mb3_unicode_ci, "
                 "sql_mode='STRICT_TRANS_TABLES', innodb_strict_mode=1"
             ),
         },
         "TEST": {
             "NAME": "evennia",
             "OPTIONS": {
-                "charset": "utf8mb4",
+                "charset": "utf8mb3",
                 "init_command": (
-                    "SET collation_connection=utf8mb4_unicode_ci, "
+                    "SET collation_connection=utf8mb3_unicode_ci, "
                     "sql_mode='STRICT_TRANS_TABLES', innodb_strict_mode=1"
                 ),
             },