diff --git a/roles/database_server/templates/utf8.cnf.j2 b/roles/database_server/templates/utf8.cnf.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ac1e31328b732d6da707878d595c0f56c6b5d684
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/database_server/templates/utf8.cnf.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{% if ansible_distribution_release == 'bullseye' %}
+[client]
+default-character-set = utf8
+
+[mysqld]
+character-set-server  = utf8
+collation-server      = utf8_general_ci
+character_set_server  = utf8
+collation_server      = utf8_general_ci
+{% else %}
+[client]
+default-character-set = utf8mb3
+
+[mysqld]
+character-set-server  = utf8mb3
+collation-server      = utf8mb3_general_ci
+character_set_server  = utf8mb3
+collation_server      = utf8mb3_general_ci
+{% endif %}