diff --git a/manifests/mysql.pp b/manifests/mysql.pp
index 2543817..7f30dfd 100644
--- a/manifests/mysql.pp
+++ b/manifests/mysql.pp
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ class etherpad_lite::mysql(
     host     => 'localhost',
     grant    => ['all'],
     charset  => 'utf8mb4',
+    collate  => 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci',
     require  => [
       Class['mysql::server'],
       Class['mysql::server::account_security'],