diff --git a/include/DB.inc.php b/include/DB.inc.php
index 1ee0170da..014cf5d43 100644
--- a/include/DB.inc.php
+++ b/include/DB.inc.php
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ private function getConnection($shardID, $info) {
 			'username' => $info['user'],
 			'password' => $info['pass'],
 			'dbname'   => $info['db'],
-			'charset'  => !empty($info['charset']) ? $info['charset'] : 'utf8',
+			'charset'  => !empty($info['charset']) ? $info['charset'] : 'utf8mb4',
 			'driver_options' => [
 				"MYSQLI_OPT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT" => 5
 			]