diff --git a/include/maxscale/mysql_utils.h b/include/maxscale/mysql_utils.h
index 49ac78edd..c945a13fd 100644
--- a/include/maxscale/mysql_utils.h
+++ b/include/maxscale/mysql_utils.h
@@ -157,4 +157,11 @@ void mxs_mysql_set_log_statements(bool enable);
  */
 bool mxs_mysql_get_log_statements();
 
+/**
+ * Get default server character set
+ *
+ * @return The numeric identifier of `@@global.character_set_server`
+ */
+uint8_t mxs_mysql_get_character_set(MYSQL* mysql);
+
 MXS_END_DECLS
diff --git a/server/core/mysql_utils.cc b/server/core/mysql_utils.cc
index c30fa0ce7..34d3afe6b 100644
--- a/server/core/mysql_utils.cc
+++ b/server/core/mysql_utils.cc
@@ -205,9 +205,7 @@ MYSQL* mxs_mysql_real_connect(MYSQL* con, SERVER* server, const char* user, cons
     if (mysql)
     {
         /** Copy the server charset */
-        MY_CHARSET_INFO cs_info;
-        mysql_get_character_set_info(mysql, &cs_info);
-        server->charset = cs_info.number;
+        server->charset = mxs_mysql_get_character_set(mysql);
 
         if (listener && mysql_get_ssl_cipher(con) == NULL)
         {
@@ -435,3 +433,31 @@ bool mxs_mysql_get_log_statements()
 {
     return this_unit.log_statements;
 }
+
+uint8_t mxs_mysql_get_character_set(MYSQL* mysql)
+{
+    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 (auto res = mysql_use_result(mysql))
+        {
+            if (auto row = mysql_fetch_row(res))
+            {
+                if (row[0])
+                {
+                    charset = atoi(row[0]);
+                }
+            }
+
+            mysql_free_result(res);
+        }
+    }
+
+    return charset;
+}
diff --git a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.cc b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.cc
index 5a5a439b6..cd88952cf 100644
--- a/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.cc
+++ b/server/modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/dbusers.cc
@@ -701,9 +701,7 @@ static bool check_server_permissions(SERVICE* service,
     }
 
     /** Copy the server charset */
-    MY_CHARSET_INFO cs_info;
-    mysql_get_character_set_info(mysql, &cs_info);
-    server->charset = cs_info.number;
+    server->charset = mxs_mysql_get_character_set(mysql);
 
     if (server->version_string[0] == 0)
     {