diff --git a/.gitlab/scripts/install_db.sh b/.gitlab/scripts/install_db.sh
index f095f1ef0cd7401f647f1a364743915c64214713..4befdcca3c887363f625ed49b2a5c643e8d001fa 100644
--- a/.gitlab/scripts/install_db.sh
+++ b/.gitlab/scripts/install_db.sh
@@ -1,26 +1,36 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
+importSQLFile() {
+    mysql --default-character-set=utf8mb4\
+        -u $MYSQL_USER\
+        -h $MYSQL_HOST\
+        -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD\
+        $MYSQL_DATABASE\
+        < $1
+
+}
+
 if [ $(mysql -u $MYSQL_USER -h $MYSQL_HOST -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE -e "show tables;" --batch | wc -l) -eq 0 ]; then
 
     # Setup mysql database
     echo "INSTALL DB"
-    mysql -u $MYSQL_USER -h $MYSQL_HOST -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE < ./db/studip.sql
+    importSQLFile ./db/studip.sql
     echo "INSTALL DEFAULT DATA"
-    mysql -u $MYSQL_USER -h $MYSQL_HOST -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE < ./db/studip_default_data.sql
-    mysql -u $MYSQL_USER -h $MYSQL_HOST -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE < ./db/studip_resources_default_data.sql
+    importSQLFile ./db/studip_default_data.sql
+    importSQLFile ./db/studip_resources_default_data.sql
 
     echo "INSTALL ROOTUSER"
-    mysql -u $MYSQL_USER -h $MYSQL_HOST -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE < ./db/studip_root_user.sql
+    importSQLFile ./db/studip_root_user.sql
 
     # Check if demodata is required
     if [ ! -z $DEMO_DATA ]; then
         echo "INSTALL DEMODATA"
-        mysql -u $MYSQL_USER -h $MYSQL_HOST -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE < ./db/studip_demo_data.sql
+        importSQLFile ./db/studip_demo_data.sql
         echo "INSTALL MVV_DEMODATA"
-        mysql -u $MYSQL_USER -h $MYSQL_HOST -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE < ./db/studip_mvv_demo_data.sql
+        importSQLFile ./db/studip_mvv_demo_data.sql
         echo "INSTALL RESOURCES-DEMODATA"
-        mysql -u $MYSQL_USER -h $MYSQL_HOST -p$MYSQL_PASSWORD $MYSQL_DATABASE < ./db/studip_resources_demo_data.sql
+        importSQLFile ./db/studip_resources_demo_data.sql
     fi
 
     echo "INSTALLATION FINISHED"
diff --git a/docker/studip/my.cnf b/docker/studip/my.cnf
index 5e3446668a9c8ae7c141c984cd00b9d29caedd62..c5607a4d4a6481802a487a0a53baf2ce3a24c7e1 100644
--- a/docker/studip/my.cnf
+++ b/docker/studip/my.cnf
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ default-character-set = utf8mb4
 default-character-set = utf8mb4
 
 [mysqld]
-init_connect='SET NAMES UTF8MB4'
 character-set-server = utf8mb4
 collation-server = utf8mb4_unicode_ci