diff --git a/framework/db/pom.xml b/framework/db/pom.xml
index ced0f64c663d..1e7ac57de1e3 100644
--- a/framework/db/pom.xml
+++ b/framework/db/pom.xml
@@ -75,7 +75,17 @@
                 <configuration>
                     <excludes>
                         <exclude>com/cloud/utils/testcase/*TestCase*</exclude>
-                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/*Test*</exclude>
+                        <!-- The test classes below are excluded because they require a live database. The remaining
+                             ones in com/cloud/utils/db are plain unit tests and must run in the build. -->
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/DbTest*</exclude>
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/ElementCollectionTest*</exclude>
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/FilterTest*</exclude>
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/GenericDaoBaseTest*</exclude>
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/GlobalLockTest*</exclude>
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/GroupByTest*</exclude>
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/Merovingian2Test*</exclude>
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/TestTransaction*</exclude>
+                        <exclude>com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionContextBuilderTest*</exclude>
                     </excludes>
                 </configuration>
             </plugin>
diff --git a/framework/db/src/main/java/com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionLegacy.java b/framework/db/src/main/java/com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionLegacy.java
index 42a8b27fa854..3d54da78f491 100644
--- a/framework/db/src/main/java/com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionLegacy.java
+++ b/framework/db/src/main/java/com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionLegacy.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import javax.sql.DataSource;
 
@@ -87,6 +88,17 @@ public class TransactionLegacy implements Closeable {
     public static final short CONNECTED_DB = -1;
     public static final String CONNECTION_PARAMS = "scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true";
 
+    /**
+     * Format of the pattern that matches a parameter of a connection URI: the name must be at the start of the URI
+     * parameters or right after a parameter separator, and must be followed by "=". Searching for the bare name would
+     * consider the parameter as configured when it is just part of a host, of a database name or of the value of
+     * another parameter.
+     */
+    private static final String URI_PARAM_PATTERN_FORMAT = "(?:^|[?&])%s=";
+    private static final String CONNECTION_COLLATION_PARAM = "connectionCollation";
+    private static final String CHARACTER_ENCODING_PARAM = "characterEncoding";
+    private static final String DEFAULT_CONNECTION_COLLATION = "utf8mb4_general_ci";
+
     private static AtomicLong s_id = new AtomicLong();
     private static final TransactionMBeanImpl s_mbean = new TransactionMBeanImpl();
     static {
@@ -1196,6 +1208,9 @@ protected static Pair<String, String> getConnectionUriAndDriver(Properties dbPro
 
             connectionUri = propertyUri;
         }
+
+        connectionUri = addDefaultConnectionCollation(connectionUri);
+
         LOGGER.info("Using the following URI to connect to {} database [{}].", schema, connectionUri);
         return new Pair<>(connectionUri, driver);
     }
@@ -1260,6 +1275,48 @@ protected static String buildConnectionUri(String loadBalanceStrategy, String dr
         return connectionUri.toString();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Informs whether {@link #DEFAULT_CONNECTION_COLLATION} should be added to a connection URI. It is only added for
+     * connections that do not already define the charset or the collation, either through {@code db.<schema>.url.params}
+     * or directly in {@code db.<schema>.uri}.
+     *
+     * @param connectionUri the connection URI configured by the operator.
+     */
+    protected static boolean shouldPinConnectionCollation(String connectionUri) {
+        return !containsUriParam(connectionUri, CONNECTION_COLLATION_PARAM)
+                && !containsUriParam(connectionUri, CHARACTER_ENCODING_PARAM);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Informs whether the given parameter is defined in the connection URI.
+     *
+     * @param connectionUri the connection URI configured by the operator; it also accepts only the parameters of a URI,
+     *                      as in {@code db.<schema>.url.params};
+     * @param param the name of the parameter to look for.
+     */
+    protected static boolean containsUriParam(String connectionUri, String param) {
+        Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(String.format(URI_PARAM_PATTERN_FORMAT, Pattern.quote(param)), Pattern.CASE_INSENSITIVE);
+        return pattern.matcher(StringUtils.defaultString(connectionUri)).find();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Adds {@link #DEFAULT_CONNECTION_COLLATION} to a connection URI configured either through
+     * {@code db.<schema>.url.params} or directly in {@code db.<schema>.uri}, keeping the URI untouched if the operator
+     * already defined the charset or the collation in it.
+     */
+    protected static String addDefaultConnectionCollation(String connectionUri) {
+        if (!shouldPinConnectionCollation(connectionUri)) {
+            return connectionUri;
+        }
+
+        String separator = "?";
+        if (StringUtils.contains(connectionUri, "?")) {
+            separator = StringUtils.endsWithAny(connectionUri, "?", "&") ? StringUtils.EMPTY : "&";
+        }
+
+        return String.format("%s%s%s=%s", connectionUri, separator, CONNECTION_COLLATION_PARAM, DEFAULT_CONNECTION_COLLATION);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Creates a data source
      */
diff --git a/framework/db/src/test/java/com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionLegacyTest.java b/framework/db/src/test/java/com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionLegacyTest.java
index 2e0af6fa1866..813df9f8f2cb 100644
--- a/framework/db/src/test/java/com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionLegacyTest.java
+++ b/framework/db/src/test/java/com/cloud/utils/db/TransactionLegacyTest.java
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithoutUri() {
 
         Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
 
-        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&someParams", result.first());
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&someParams&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true"
+                + "&connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result.first());
         Assert.assertEquals("driver", result.second());
     }
 
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithUri() {
 
         Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
 
-        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:driver:myFavoriteUri", result.first());
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:driver:myFavoriteUri?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result.first());
         Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:driver", result.second());
     }
 
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithUri() {
     public void getPropertiesAndBuildConnectionUriTestDbHaDisabled() {
         String result = TransactionLegacy.getPropertiesAndBuildConnectionUri(properties, "strat", "driver", true, "cloud");
 
-        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&someParams&useSSL=true", result);
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&someParams&useSSL=true&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true", result);
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -82,14 +83,14 @@ public void getPropertiesAndBuildConnectionUriTestDbHaEnabled() {
         String result = TransactionLegacy.getPropertiesAndBuildConnectionUri(properties, "strat", "driver", true, "cloud");
 
         Assert.assertEquals("driver://host,second_host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&someParams&useSSL=true&failOverReadOnly=true&reconnectAtTxEnd=false&autoReconnectFor"
-                + "Pools=true&secondsBeforeRetrySource=25&queriesBeforeRetrySource=105&initialTimeout=1000&loadBalanceStrategy=strat", result);
+                + "Pools=true&secondsBeforeRetrySource=25&queriesBeforeRetrySource=105&initialTimeout=1000&loadBalanceStrategy=strat&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true", result);
     }
 
     @Test
     public void buildConnectionUriTestDbHaDisabled() {
         String result = TransactionLegacy.buildConnectionUri(null, "driver", false, "host", null, 5555, "cloud", false, null, null);
 
-        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/cloud?autoReconnect=false", result);
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/cloud?autoReconnect=false&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true", result);
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -98,20 +99,257 @@ public void buildConnectionUriTestDbHaEnabled() {
 
         String result = TransactionLegacy.buildConnectionUri("strat", "driver", false, "host", "second_host", 5555, "cloud", false, null, "dbHaParams");
 
-        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host,second_host:5555/cloud?autoReconnect=false&dbHaParams&loadBalanceStrategy=strat", result);
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host,second_host:5555/cloud?autoReconnect=false&dbHaParams&loadBalanceStrategy=strat&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true", result);
     }
 
     @Test
     public void buildConnectionUriTestUrlParamsNotNull() {
         String result = TransactionLegacy.buildConnectionUri(null, "driver", false, "host", null, 5555, "cloud", false, "urlParams", null);
 
-        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/cloud?autoReconnect=false&urlParams", result);
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/cloud?autoReconnect=false&urlParams&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true", result);
     }
 
     @Test
     public void buildConnectionUriTestUseSslTrue() {
         String result = TransactionLegacy.buildConnectionUri(null, "driver", true, "host", null, 5555, "cloud", false, null, null);
 
-        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/cloud?autoReconnect=false&useSSL=true", result);
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/cloud?autoReconnect=false&useSSL=true&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true", result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithoutUriAndUrlParamsDefiningConnectionCollationDoesNotPinTheDefaultOne() {
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.uri", "");
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.driver", "driver");
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.url.params", "connectionCollation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci");
+
+        Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&connectionCollation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci"
+                + "&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true", result.first());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithoutUriAndUrlParamsDefiningCharacterEncodingDoesNotPinTheDefaultCollation() {
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.uri", "");
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.driver", "driver");
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.url.params", "characterEncoding=UTF-8");
+
+        Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&characterEncoding=UTF-8&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true",
+                result.first());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithUriWithoutParametersPinsTheDefaultCollation() {
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.uri", "jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name");
+
+        Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result.first());
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql", result.second());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithUriWithParametersPinsTheDefaultCollation() {
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.uri", "jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&someParams");
+
+        Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?autoReconnect=false&someParams&connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci",
+                result.first());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithUriDefiningConnectionCollationKeepsItUntouched() {
+        String uri = "jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci";
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.uri", uri);
+
+        Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(uri, result.first());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithUriDefiningCharacterEncodingKeepsItUntouched() {
+        String uri = "jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?characterEncoding=UTF-8";
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.uri", uri);
+
+        Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(uri, result.first());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestNullConnectionParamsReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation(null));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestEmptyConnectionParamsReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation(""));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestConnectionParamsWithoutCollationAndEncodingReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("cachePrepStmts=true&serverTimezone=UTC"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestConnectionParamsWithConnectionCollationReturnsFalse() {
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("cachePrepStmts=true&connectionCollation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestConnectionParamsWithCharacterEncodingReturnsFalse() {
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("cachePrepStmts=true&characterEncoding=UTF-8"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestIsCaseInsensitive() {
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("CONNECTIONCOLLATION=utf8mb4_unicode_ci"));
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("characterencoding=UTF-8"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void addDefaultConnectionCollationTestUriWithoutParametersAddsTheQueryStringSeparator() {
+        String result = TransactionLegacy.addDefaultConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void addDefaultConnectionCollationTestUriWithParametersAddsTheParameterSeparator() {
+        String result = TransactionLegacy.addDefaultConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?someParams");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?someParams&connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void addDefaultConnectionCollationTestUriEndingWithQueryStringSeparatorDoesNotDuplicateIt() {
+        String result = TransactionLegacy.addDefaultConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void addDefaultConnectionCollationTestUriEndingWithParameterSeparatorDoesNotDuplicateIt() {
+        String result = TransactionLegacy.addDefaultConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?someParams&");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?someParams&connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void addDefaultConnectionCollationTestUriDefiningConnectionCollationKeepsItUntouched() {
+        String uri = "jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci";
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(uri, TransactionLegacy.addDefaultConnectionCollation(uri));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void addDefaultConnectionCollationTestUriDefiningCharacterEncodingKeepsItUntouched() {
+        String uri = "jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?characterEncoding=UTF-8";
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(uri, TransactionLegacy.addDefaultConnectionCollation(uri));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestUriWithHostContainingTheParameterNamesReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://characterEncoding:5555/name"));
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://connectionCollation.example.com:5555/name?someParams"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestUriWithDatabaseNameContainingTheParameterNamesReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/connectionCollation"));
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/characterEncoding?someParams"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestParameterValueContainingTheParameterNamesReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?user=connectionCollation"));
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?user=characterEncoding&someParams"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldPinConnectionCollationTestUriDefiningTheParametersAsTheFirstOneReturnsFalse() {
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_unicode_ci"));
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.shouldPinConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?characterEncoding=UTF-8&someParams"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void addDefaultConnectionCollationTestUriWithHostContainingTheParameterNamesAddsTheDefaultCollation() {
+        String result = TransactionLegacy.addDefaultConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://characterEncoding.example.com:5555/name");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://characterEncoding.example.com:5555/name?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void addDefaultConnectionCollationTestUriWithDatabaseNameContainingTheParameterNamesAddsTheDefaultCollation() {
+        String result = TransactionLegacy.addDefaultConnectionCollation("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/connectionCollation?someParams");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/connectionCollation?someParams&connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithUriWhoseDatabaseNameContainsTheParameterNamePinsTheDefaultCollation() {
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.uri", "jdbc:mysql://host:5555/characterEncoding");
+
+        Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/characterEncoding?connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result.first());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void getConnectionUriAndDriverTestWithoutUriAndDatabaseNameContainingTheParameterNamePinsTheDefaultCollation() {
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.uri", "");
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.driver", "driver");
+        properties.setProperty("db.cloud.name", "connectionCollation");
+
+        Pair<String, String> result = TransactionLegacy.getConnectionUriAndDriver(properties, null, false, "cloud");
+
+        Assert.assertEquals("driver://host:5555/connectionCollation?autoReconnect=false&someParams&scrollTolerantForwardOnly=true"
+                + "&connectionCollation=utf8mb4_general_ci", result.first());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void containsUriParamTestParamDefinedAsTheFirstOneReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?serverTimezone=UTC", "serverTimezone"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void containsUriParamTestParamDefinedAfterOtherParamsReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?someParams&serverTimezone=UTC", "serverTimezone"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void containsUriParamTestOnlyTheUriParamsReturnsTrue() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam("serverTimezone=UTC&someParams", "serverTimezone"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void containsUriParamTestParamIsPartOfTheHostOrOfTheDatabaseNameReturnsFalse() {
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam("jdbc:mysql://serverTimezone:5555/name", "serverTimezone"));
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/serverTimezone?someParams", "serverTimezone"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void containsUriParamTestParamIsTheValueOfAnotherParamReturnsFalse() {
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?user=serverTimezone", "serverTimezone"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void containsUriParamTestParamIsNotDefinedReturnsFalse() {
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?someParams", "serverTimezone"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void containsUriParamTestNullConnectionUriReturnsFalse() {
+        Assert.assertFalse(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam(null, "serverTimezone"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void containsUriParamTestIsCaseInsensitive() {
+        Assert.assertTrue(TransactionLegacy.containsUriParam("jdbc:mysql://host:5555/name?SERVERTIMEZONE=UTC", "serverTimezone"));
     }
 }