diff --git a/include/maxscale/mysql_utils.hh b/include/maxscale/mysql_utils.hh
index 91b9e6018..6e30437a2 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/mysql_utils.hh
+++ b/include/maxscale/mysql_utils.hh
@@ -115,11 +115,12 @@ mxs_mysql_name_kind_t mxs_mysql_name_to_pcre(char* pcre,
 void mxs_mysql_update_server_version(SERVER* dest, MYSQL* source);
 
 /**
- * Get default server character set
+ * Update default server character set from @@global.character_set_server
  *
- * @return The numeric identifier of `@@global.character_set_server`
+ * @param mysql  The connection handle
+ * @param server The server to modify
  */
-uint8_t mxs_mysql_get_character_set(MYSQL* mysql);
+void mxs_update_server_charset(MYSQL* mysql, SERVER* server);
 
 namespace maxscale
 {
diff --git a/server/core/mysql_utils.cc b/server/core/mysql_utils.cc
index 12545b34e..ae263b9f8 100644
--- a/server/core/mysql_utils.cc
+++ b/server/core/mysql_utils.cc
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ MYSQL* mxs_mysql_real_connect(MYSQL* con, SERVER* server, const char* user, cons
     if (mysql)
     {
         /** Copy the server charset */
-        server->charset = mxs_mysql_get_character_set(mysql);
+        mxs_update_server_charset(mysql, server);
 
         if (ssl && mysql_get_ssl_cipher(con) == NULL)
         {
@@ -385,16 +385,15 @@ const char* dbg_decode_response(GWBUF* pPacket)
 }
 #endif
 
-uint8_t mxs_mysql_get_character_set(MYSQL* mysql)
+void mxs_update_server_charset(MYSQL* mysql, SERVER* server)
 {
-    uint8_t charset = 8; // Default is latin1 with the ID 8
     const char* CHARSET_QUERY =
         "SELECT co.id FROM information_schema.collations AS co "
         "JOIN information_schema.character_sets AS cs "
         "ON (co.collation_name = cs.default_collate_name) "
         "WHERE cs.character_set_name=@@global.character_set_server;";
 
-    if (mysql_query(mysql, CHARSET_QUERY) == 0)
+    if (mxs_mysql_query(mysql, CHARSET_QUERY) == 0)
     {
         if (auto res = mysql_use_result(mysql))
         {
@@ -402,13 +401,11 @@ uint8_t mxs_mysql_get_character_set(MYSQL* mysql)
             {
                 if (row[0])
                 {
-                    charset = atoi(row[0]);
+                    server->charset = atoi(row[0]);
                 }
             }
 
             mysql_free_result(res);
         }
     }
-
-    return charset;
 }
diff --git a/server/modules/authenticator/MariaDBAuth/dbusers.cc b/server/modules/authenticator/MariaDBAuth/dbusers.cc
index 03f075308..a5e7f8bc4 100644
--- a/server/modules/authenticator/MariaDBAuth/dbusers.cc
+++ b/server/modules/authenticator/MariaDBAuth/dbusers.cc
@@ -934,7 +934,7 @@ static bool check_server_permissions(SERVICE* service,
     }
 
     /** Copy the server charset */
-    server->charset = mxs_mysql_get_character_set(mysql);
+    mxs_update_server_charset(mysql, server);
 
     if (server->version().total == 0)
     {