diff --git a/stack.sh b/stack.sh
index 430710c..797b902 100755
--- a/stack.sh
+++ b/stack.sh
@@ -803,7 +803,7 @@
 
     # (re)create glance database
     mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS glance;'
-    mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'CREATE DATABASE glance;'
+    mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'CREATE DATABASE glance CHARACTER SET utf8;'
 
     function glance_config {
         sudo sed -e "
@@ -814,7 +814,7 @@
             s,%KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST%,$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_HOST,g;
             s,%KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PORT%,$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PORT,g;
             s,%KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PROTOCOL%,$KEYSTONE_SERVICE_PROTOCOL,g;
-            s,%SQL_CONN%,$BASE_SQL_CONN/glance,g;
+            s,%SQL_CONN%,$BASE_SQL_CONN/glance?charset=utf8,g;
             s,%SERVICE_TENANT_NAME%,$SERVICE_TENANT_NAME,g;
             s,%SERVICE_USERNAME%,glance,g;
             s,%SERVICE_PASSWORD%,$SERVICE_PASSWORD,g;
@@ -1262,7 +1262,7 @@
 if [ -n "$FLAT_INTERFACE" ]; then
     add_nova_opt "flat_interface=$FLAT_INTERFACE"
 fi
-add_nova_opt "sql_connection=$BASE_SQL_CONN/nova"
+add_nova_opt "sql_connection=$BASE_SQL_CONN/nova?charset=utf8"
 add_nova_opt "libvirt_type=$LIBVIRT_TYPE"
 add_nova_opt "instance_name_template=${INSTANCE_NAME_PREFIX}%08x"
 # All nova-compute workers need to know the vnc configuration options
@@ -1426,12 +1426,12 @@
 if is_service_enabled key; then
     # (re)create keystone database
     mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS keystone;'
-    mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'CREATE DATABASE keystone;'
+    mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'CREATE DATABASE keystone CHARACTER SET utf8;'
 
     # Configure keystone.conf
     KEYSTONE_CONF=$KEYSTONE_DIR/etc/keystone.conf
     cp $FILES/keystone.conf $KEYSTONE_CONF
-    sudo sed -e "s,%SQL_CONN%,$BASE_SQL_CONN/keystone,g" -i $KEYSTONE_CONF
+    sudo sed -e "s,%SQL_CONN%,$BASE_SQL_CONN/keystone?charset=utf8,g" -i $KEYSTONE_CONF
     sudo sed -e "s,%DEST%,$DEST,g" -i $KEYSTONE_CONF
     sudo sed -e "s,%SERVICE_TOKEN%,$SERVICE_TOKEN,g" -i $KEYSTONE_CONF
     sudo sed -e "s,%KEYSTONE_DIR%,$KEYSTONE_DIR,g" -i $KEYSTONE_CONF
@@ -1523,7 +1523,7 @@
         # Create database for the plugin/agent
         if is_service_enabled mysql; then
             mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS ovs_quantum;'
-            mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS ovs_quantum;'
+            mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS ovs_quantum CHARACTER SET utf8;'
         else
             echo "mysql must be enabled in order to use the $Q_PLUGIN Quantum plugin."
             exit 1
@@ -1549,7 +1549,7 @@
        # Start up the quantum <-> openvswitch agent
        QUANTUM_OVS_CONFIG_FILE=$QUANTUM_CONF_DIR/ovs_quantum_plugin.ini
        sudo cp $QUANTUM_DIR/etc/quantum/plugins/openvswitch/ovs_quantum_plugin.ini $QUANTUM_OVS_CONFIG_FILE
-       sudo sed -i -e "s/^sql_connection =.*$/sql_connection = mysql:\/\/$MYSQL_USER:$MYSQL_PASSWORD@$MYSQL_HOST\/ovs_quantum/g" $QUANTUM_OVS_CONFIG_FILE
+       sudo sed -i -e "s/^sql_connection =.*$/sql_connection = mysql:\/\/$MYSQL_USER:$MYSQL_PASSWORD@$MYSQL_HOST\/ovs_quantum?charset=utf8/g" $QUANTUM_OVS_CONFIG_FILE
        screen_it q-agt "sleep 4; sudo python $QUANTUM_DIR/quantum/plugins/openvswitch/agent/ovs_quantum_agent.py $QUANTUM_OVS_CONFIG_FILE -v"
     fi
 
@@ -1559,14 +1559,14 @@
 if is_service_enabled m-svc; then
     if is_service_enabled mysql; then
         mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS melange;'
-        mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'CREATE DATABASE melange;'
+        mysql -u$MYSQL_USER -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e 'CREATE DATABASE melange CHARACTER SET utf8;'
     else
         echo "mysql must be enabled in order to use the $Q_PLUGIN Quantum plugin."
         exit 1
     fi
     MELANGE_CONFIG_FILE=$MELANGE_DIR/etc/melange/melange.conf
     cp $MELANGE_CONFIG_FILE.sample $MELANGE_CONFIG_FILE
-    sed -i -e "s/^sql_connection =.*$/sql_connection = mysql:\/\/$MYSQL_USER:$MYSQL_PASSWORD@$MYSQL_HOST\/melange/g" $MELANGE_CONFIG_FILE
+    sed -i -e "s/^sql_connection =.*$/sql_connection = mysql:\/\/$MYSQL_USER:$MYSQL_PASSWORD@$MYSQL_HOST\/melange?charset=utf8/g" $MELANGE_CONFIG_FILE
     cd $MELANGE_DIR && PYTHONPATH=.:$PYTHONPATH python $MELANGE_DIR/bin/melange-manage --config-file=$MELANGE_CONFIG_FILE db_sync
     screen_it m-svc "cd $MELANGE_DIR && PYTHONPATH=.:$PYTHONPATH python $MELANGE_DIR/bin/melange-server --config-file=$MELANGE_CONFIG_FILE"
     echo "Waiting for melange to start..."