diff --git a/keyserver/src/cron/backups.js b/keyserver/src/cron/backups.js
index 1fd0c4d22..7916a9243 100644
--- a/keyserver/src/cron/backups.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/cron/backups.js
@@ -1,216 +1,217 @@
 // @flow
 
 import childProcess from 'child_process';
 import dateFormat from 'dateformat';
 import fs from 'fs';
 import invariant from 'invariant';
 import { ReReadable } from 'rereadable-stream';
 import { PassThrough } from 'stream';
 import { promisify } from 'util';
 import zlib from 'zlib';
 
 import { getDBConfig, type DBConfig } from '../database/db-config';
 import { importJSON } from '../utils/import-json';
 
 const readdir = promisify(fs.readdir);
 const lstat = promisify(fs.lstat);
 const unlink = promisify(fs.unlink);
 
 async function backupDB() {
   const [backupConfig, dbConfig] = await Promise.all([
     importJSON({ folder: 'facts', name: 'backups' }),
     getDBConfig(),
   ]);
 
   if (!backupConfig || !backupConfig.enabled) {
     return;
   }
 
   const dateString = dateFormat('yyyy-mm-dd-HH:MM');
   const filename = `comm.${dateString}.sql.gz`;
   const filePath = `${backupConfig.directory}/${filename}`;
 
   const rawStream = new PassThrough();
   (async () => {
     try {
       await mysqldump(dbConfig, filename, rawStream, ['--no-data'], {
         end: false,
       });
     } catch {}
     try {
       const ignoreReports = `--ignore-table=${dbConfig.database}.reports`;
       await mysqldump(dbConfig, filename, rawStream, [
         '--no-create-info',
         ignoreReports,
       ]);
     } catch {
       rawStream.end();
     }
   })();
 
   const gzippedBuffer = new ReReadable();
   rawStream
     .on('error', (e: Error) => {
       console.warn(`mysqldump stdout stream emitted error for ${filename}`, e);
     })
     .pipe(zlib.createGzip())
     .on('error', (e: Error) => {
       console.warn(`gzip transform stream emitted error for ${filename}`, e);
     })
     .pipe(gzippedBuffer);
 
   try {
     await saveBackup(filename, filePath, gzippedBuffer);
   } catch (e) {
     console.warn(`saveBackup threw for ${filename}`, e);
     await unlink(filePath);
   }
 }
 
 function mysqldump(
   dbConfig: DBConfig,
   filename: string,
   rawStream: PassThrough,
   extraParams: $ReadOnlyArray<string>,
   pipeParams?: { end?: boolean, ... },
 ): Promise<void> {
   const mysqlDump = childProcess.spawn(
     'mysqldump',
     [
       '-h',
       dbConfig.host,
       '-u',
       dbConfig.user,
       `-p${dbConfig.password}`,
       '--single-transaction',
       '--no-tablespaces',
+      '--default-character-set=utf8mb4',
       ...extraParams,
       dbConfig.database,
     ],
     {
       stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'],
     },
   );
   const extraParamsString = extraParams.join(' ');
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     mysqlDump.on('error', (e: Error) => {
       console.warn(
         `error trying to spawn mysqldump ${extraParamsString} for ${filename}`,
         e,
       );
       reject(e);
     });
     mysqlDump.on('exit', (code: number | null, signal: string | null) => {
       if (signal !== null && signal !== undefined) {
         console.warn(
           `mysqldump ${extraParamsString} received signal ${signal} for ` +
             filename,
         );
         reject(new Error(`mysqldump ${JSON.stringify({ code, signal })}`));
       } else if (code !== null && code !== 0) {
         console.warn(
           `mysqldump ${extraParamsString} exited with code ${code} for ` +
             filename,
         );
         reject(new Error(`mysqldump ${JSON.stringify({ code, signal })}`));
       }
       resolve();
     });
     mysqlDump.stdout.pipe(rawStream, pipeParams);
   });
 }
 
 async function saveBackup(
   filename: string,
   filePath: string,
   gzippedBuffer: ReReadable,
   retries: number = 2,
 ): Promise<void> {
   try {
     await trySaveBackup(filename, filePath, gzippedBuffer);
   } catch (saveError) {
     if (saveError.code !== 'ENOSPC') {
       throw saveError;
     }
     if (!retries) {
       throw saveError;
     }
     try {
       await deleteOldestBackup();
     } catch (deleteError) {
       if (deleteError.message === 'no_backups_left') {
         throw saveError;
       } else {
         throw deleteError;
       }
     }
     await saveBackup(filename, filePath, gzippedBuffer, retries - 1);
   }
 }
 
 const backupWatchFrequency = 60 * 1000;
 function trySaveBackup(
   filename: string,
   filePath: string,
   gzippedBuffer: ReReadable,
 ): Promise<void> {
   const timeoutObject: { timeout: ?TimeoutID } = { timeout: null };
   const setBackupTimeout = (alreadyWaited: number) => {
     timeoutObject.timeout = setTimeout(() => {
       const nowWaited = alreadyWaited + backupWatchFrequency;
       console.log(
         `writing backup for ${filename} has taken ${nowWaited}ms so far`,
       );
       setBackupTimeout(nowWaited);
     }, backupWatchFrequency);
   };
   setBackupTimeout(0);
 
   const writeStream = fs.createWriteStream(filePath);
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     gzippedBuffer
       .rewind()
       .pipe(writeStream)
       .on('finish', () => {
         clearTimeout(timeoutObject.timeout);
         resolve();
       })
       .on('error', (e: Error) => {
         clearTimeout(timeoutObject.timeout);
         console.warn(`write stream emitted error for ${filename}`, e);
         reject(e);
       });
   });
 }
 
 async function deleteOldestBackup() {
   const backupConfig = await importJSON({ folder: 'facts', name: 'backups' });
   invariant(backupConfig, 'backupConfig should be non-null');
   const files = await readdir(backupConfig.directory);
   let oldestFile;
   for (const file of files) {
     if (!file.endsWith('.sql.gz') || !file.startsWith('comm.')) {
       continue;
     }
     const stat = await lstat(`${backupConfig.directory}/${file}`);
     if (stat.isDirectory()) {
       continue;
     }
     if (!oldestFile || stat.mtime < oldestFile.mtime) {
       oldestFile = { file, mtime: stat.mtime };
     }
   }
   if (!oldestFile) {
     throw new Error('no_backups_left');
   }
   try {
     await unlink(`${backupConfig.directory}/${oldestFile.file}`);
   } catch (e) {
     // Check if it's already been deleted
     if (e.code !== 'ENOENT') {
       throw e;
     }
   }
 }
 
 export { backupDB };