diff --git a/library/Icinga/Authentication/User/UserBackend.php b/library/Icinga/Authentication/User/UserBackend.php
index 954356819..13e688795 100644
--- a/library/Icinga/Authentication/User/UserBackend.php
+++ b/library/Icinga/Authentication/User/UserBackend.php
@@ -223,7 +223,12 @@ class UserBackend implements ConfigAwareFactory
             );
         }
 
-        $resource = ResourceFactory::create($backendConfig->resource);
+        $resourceConfig = ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig($backendConfig->resource);
+        if ($backendType === 'db') {
+            $resourceConfig->charset = 'utf8';
+        }
+
+        $resource = ResourceFactory::createResource($resourceConfig);
         switch ($backendType) {
             case 'db':
                 $backend = new DbUserBackend($resource);
diff --git a/library/Icinga/Authentication/UserGroup/UserGroupBackend.php b/library/Icinga/Authentication/UserGroup/UserGroupBackend.php
index 6513002f5..2a5948823 100644
--- a/library/Icinga/Authentication/UserGroup/UserGroupBackend.php
+++ b/library/Icinga/Authentication/UserGroup/UserGroupBackend.php
@@ -164,8 +164,13 @@ class UserGroupBackend
                 $name
             );
         }
-        $resource = ResourceFactory::create($backendConfig->resource);
 
+        $resourceConfig = ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig($backendConfig->resource);
+        if ($backendType === 'db') {
+            $resourceConfig->charset = 'utf8';
+        }
+
+        $resource = ResourceFactory::createResource($resourceConfig);
         switch ($backendType) {
             case 'db':
                 $backend = new DbUserGroupBackend($resource);
diff --git a/library/Icinga/Common/Database.php b/library/Icinga/Common/Database.php
index 32d21153f..fbe1e0260 100644
--- a/library/Icinga/Common/Database.php
+++ b/library/Icinga/Common/Database.php
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ trait Database
         $config = new SqlConfig(ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig(
             IcingaConfig::app()->get('global', 'config_resource')
         ));
+        $config->charset = 'utf8mb4';
 
         $config->options = [PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => PDO::FETCH_OBJ];
         if ($config->db === 'mysql') {
diff --git a/library/Icinga/User/Preferences/PreferencesStore.php b/library/Icinga/User/Preferences/PreferencesStore.php
index c88cf332d..b6d63a9ad 100644
--- a/library/Icinga/User/Preferences/PreferencesStore.php
+++ b/library/Icinga/User/Preferences/PreferencesStore.php
@@ -130,7 +130,10 @@ abstract class PreferencesStore
             Logger::warning('The preferences backend of type INI is deprecated and will be removed with version 2.11');
             $config->location = Config::resolvePath('preferences');
         } elseif ($type === 'Db') {
-            $config->connection = new DbConnection(ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig($config->resource));
+            $resourceConfig = ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig($config->resource);
+            $resourceConfig->charset = 'utf8';
+
+            $config->connection = ResourceFactory::createResource($resourceConfig);
         }
 
         return new $storeClass($config, $user);
diff --git a/modules/migrate/application/clicommands/PreferencesCommand.php b/modules/migrate/application/clicommands/PreferencesCommand.php
index 65f2b43da..fa2bad50c 100644
--- a/modules/migrate/application/clicommands/PreferencesCommand.php
+++ b/modules/migrate/application/clicommands/PreferencesCommand.php
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ class PreferencesCommand extends Command
             $resource = $this->params->getRequired('resource');
         }
 
-        $connection = ResourceFactory::create($resource);
+        $resourceConfig = ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig($resource);
+        $resourceConfig->charset = 'utf8';
+        $connection = ResourceFactory::createResource($resourceConfig);
 
         $preferencesPath = Config::resolvePath('preferences');
         if (! file_exists($preferencesPath)) {
diff --git a/modules/migrate/library/Migrate/Config/UserDomainMigration.php b/modules/migrate/library/Migrate/Config/UserDomainMigration.php
index d56722b4e..5edc93722 100644
--- a/modules/migrate/library/Migrate/Config/UserDomainMigration.php
+++ b/modules/migrate/library/Migrate/Config/UserDomainMigration.php
@@ -206,8 +206,11 @@ class UserDomainMigration
 
                 break;
             case 'db':
+                $resourceConfig = ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig($config->get('global', 'config_resource'));
+                $resourceConfig->charset = 'utf8';
+
                 /** @var DbConnection $conn */
-                $conn = ResourceFactory::create($config->get('global', 'config_resource'));
+                $conn = ResourceFactory::createResource($resourceConfig);
 
                 $query = $conn
                     ->select()
@@ -288,8 +291,11 @@ class UserDomainMigration
                 continue;
             }
 
+            $resourceConfig = ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig($config->resource);
+            $resourceConfig->charset = 'utf8';
+
             /** @var DbConnection $conn */
-            $conn = ResourceFactory::create($config->resource);
+            $conn = ResourceFactory::createResource($resourceConfig);
 
             $query = $conn
                 ->select()
@@ -336,8 +342,11 @@ class UserDomainMigration
                 continue;
             }
 
+            $resourceConfig = ResourceFactory::getResourceConfig($config->resource);
+            $resourceConfig->charset = 'utf8';
+
             /** @var DbConnection $conn */
-            $conn = ResourceFactory::create($config->resource);
+            $conn = ResourceFactory::createResource($resourceConfig);
 
             $query = $conn
                 ->select()