diff --git a/docs/rolereference.rst b/docs/rolereference.rst
index 8a1cfe194a9c2466a6abb14bff5f2c040c0d54b2..d726766d015ae8f0facdf7e8ca0907837541de8d 100644
--- a/docs/rolereference.rst
+++ b/docs/rolereference.rst
@@ -1955,6 +1955,7 @@ Distribution compatibility
 Role is compatible with the following distributions:
 
 - Debian 8 (Jessie)
+- Debian 9 (Stretch)
 
 
 Examples
diff --git a/roles/database_server/molecule/default/molecule.yml b/roles/database_server/molecule/default/molecule.yml
index e5c62d0ac461885dd1c5391d022dcee39cb2a168..9af56c1df16ce63078269a78972d65674ecbb18a 100644
--- a/roles/database_server/molecule/default/molecule.yml
+++ b/roles/database_server/molecule/default/molecule.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@ platforms:
     memory: 512
     cpus: 1
 
+  - name: parameters-mandatory-stretch64
+    groups:
+      - parameters-mandatory
+    box: debian/contrib-stretch64
+    memory: 512
+    cpus: 1
+
 provisioner:
   name: ansible
   config_options:
diff --git a/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py b/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
index 669bb73a7f167cc2d6c93c0da55573163c9ac63e..e3b2cefc5518f5285fb1d97fd9eb367ff9fb157b 100644
--- a/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
+++ b/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
@@ -74,20 +74,6 @@ def test_root_my_cnf_login(host):
         assert "performance_schema" in login.stdout
 
 
-def test_utf8_configuration_file(host):
-    """
-    Tests if UTF-8 database server configuration file has been deployed
-    correctly.
-    """
-
-    config = host.file('/etc/mysql/conf.d/utf8.cnf')
-
-    assert config.is_file
-    assert config.user == 'root'
-    assert config.group == 'root'
-    assert config.mode == 0o644
-
-
 def test_utf8_configuration(host):
     """
     Tests if UTF-8 configuration has been applied correctly to server.
diff --git a/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default_jessie64.py b/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default_jessie64.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8dbf899ef9ab59282bacb72bbbc81d888941886c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default_jessie64.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import os
+
+import testinfra.utils.ansible_runner
+
+
+testinfra_hosts = testinfra.utils.ansible_runner.AnsibleRunner(
+    os.environ['MOLECULE_INVENTORY_FILE']).get_hosts(['parameters-mandatory-jessie64'])
+
+
+def test_utf8_configuration_file(host):
+    """
+    Tests if UTF-8 database server configuration file has been deployed
+    correctly.
+    """
+
+    config = host.file('/etc/mysql/conf.d/utf8.cnf')
+
+    assert config.is_file
+    assert config.user == 'root'
+    assert config.group == 'root'
+    assert config.mode == 0o644
+
+
+def test_stretch_utf8_configuration_file_absent(host):
+    """
+    Tests if the Stretch configuration file is absent.
+    """
+
+    config = host.file('/etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/90-utf8.cnf')
+
+    assert not config.exists
diff --git a/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default_stretch64.py b/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default_stretch64.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6ae1ba21fb7c49fd2717d5902ec52143b2856fb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/database_server/molecule/default/tests/test_default_stretch64.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import os
+
+import testinfra.utils.ansible_runner
+
+
+testinfra_hosts = testinfra.utils.ansible_runner.AnsibleRunner(
+    os.environ['MOLECULE_INVENTORY_FILE']).get_hosts(['parameters-mandatory-stretch64'])
+
+
+def test_utf8_configuration_file(host):
+    """
+    Tests if UTF-8 database server configuration file has been deployed
+    correctly.
+    """
+
+    config = host.file('/etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/90-utf8.cnf')
+
+    assert config.is_file
+    assert config.user == 'root'
+    assert config.group == 'root'
+    assert config.mode == 0o644
+
+
+def test_jessie_utf8_configuration_file_absent(host):
+    """
+    Tests if the Jessie configuration file is absent.
+    """
+
+    config = host.file('/etc/mysql/conf.d/utf8.cnf')
+
+    assert not config.exists
diff --git a/roles/database_server/tasks/main.yml b/roles/database_server/tasks/main.yml
index 2cc551597f234eb71df8f4a77956ead59982db33..28d08d137adf544045cddd4dc4a40865b4a8ab36 100644
--- a/roles/database_server/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/database_server/tasks/main.yml
@@ -33,20 +33,48 @@
     group: root
     mode: 0400
 
-- name: Set UTF-8 encoding as default for MariaDB
+- name: Check if root user authentication is based on use of unix_socket module (Stretch default)
+  command: mysql --skip-column-names -B -e "select 1 from mysql.user where user='root' and plugin='unix_socket';"
+  when: "ansible_distribution_release == 'stretch'"
+  register: "root_using_unix_socket_authentication"
+  changed_when: false
+
+- name: Disable use of unix socket login on Debian Stretch (temporary workaround)
+  command: "mysql -B -e \"update mysql.user set plugin='' where user='root' and plugin='unix_socket'; flush privileges;\""
+  when: "ansible_distribution_release == 'stretch' and root_using_unix_socket_authentication.stdout != ''"
+
+- name: Remove UTF-8 encoding configuration file from the old location on Debian Stretch
+  file:
+    path: "/etc/mysql/conf.d/utf8.cnf"
+    state: absent
+  when: "ansible_distribution_release == 'stretch'"
+  register: mariadb_utf8_configuration_stretch
+
+- name: Set UTF-8 encoding as default for MariaDB (on Jessie)
   copy:
     src: "utf8.cnf"
     dest: "/etc/mysql/conf.d/utf8.cnf"
     owner: root
     group: root
     mode: 0644
-  register: mariadb_utf8_configuration
+  when: "ansible_distribution_release == 'jessie'"
+  register: mariadb_utf8_configuration_jessie
+
+- name: Set UTF-8 encoding as default for MariaDB (on Stretch)
+  copy:
+    src: "utf8.cnf"
+    dest: "/etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/90-utf8.cnf"
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: 0644
+  when: "ansible_distribution_release == 'stretch'"
+  register: mariadb_utf8_configuration_stretch
 
 - name: Restart MariaDB in order to use UTF-8 as default character set
   service:
     name: mysql
     state: restarted
-  when: mariadb_utf8_configuration.changed
+  when: mariadb_utf8_configuration_jessie.changed or mariadb_utf8_configuration_stretch.changed
   tags:
     # [ANSIBLE0016] Tasks that run when changed should likely be handlers
     #   UTF-8 configuration must be applied immediatelly in order to ensure that