diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ba410af..35c1560 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -172,7 +172,8 @@ You can specify configuration options either via a config file (default: `config
 | `db.user`                   | `WAKAPI_DB_USER`            | -              | Database user                                                       |
 | `db.password`               | `WAKAPI_DB_PASSWORD`        | -              | Database password                                                   |
 | `db.name`                   | `WAKAPI_DB_NAME`            | `wakapi_db.db` | Database name                                                       |
-| `db.dialect`                | `WAKAPI_DB_TYPE`            | `sqlite3`      | Database type (one of `sqlite3`, `mysql`, `postgres`, `cockroach`)                     |
+| `db.dialect`                | `WAKAPI_DB_TYPE`            | `sqlite3`      | Database type (one of `sqlite3`, `mysql`, `postgres`, `cockroach`)  |
+| `db.charset`                | `WAKAPI_DB_CHARSET`         | `utf8mb4`      | Database connection charset (for MySQL only)                        |
 | `db.max_conn`               | `WAKAPI_DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS` | `2`            | Maximum number of database connections                              |
 | `db.ssl`                    | `WAKAPI_DB_SSL`             | `false`        | Whether to use TLS encryption for database connection (Postgres and CockroachDB only) |
 
diff --git a/config.default.yml b/config.default.yml
index 6fbec91..81b3bed 100644
--- a/config.default.yml
+++ b/config.default.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ db:
   password:                 # leave blank when using sqlite3
   name: wakapi_db.db        # database name for mysql / postgres or file path for sqlite (e.g. /tmp/wakapi.db)
   dialect: sqlite3          # mysql, postgres, sqlite3
+  charset: utf8mb4          # only used for mysql connections
   max_conn: 2               # maximum number of concurrent connections to maintain
   ssl: false                # whether to use tls for db connection (must be true for cockroachdb) (ignored for mysql and sqlite)
 
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index f3ce24d..62b0320 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ type dbConfig struct {
 	Password string `env:"WAKAPI_DB_PASSWORD"`
 	Name     string `default:"wakapi_db.db" env:"WAKAPI_DB_NAME"`
 	Dialect  string `yaml:"-"`
+	Charset  string `default:"utf8mb4" env:"WAKAPI_DB_CHARSET"`
 	Type     string `yaml:"dialect" default:"sqlite3" env:"WAKAPI_DB_TYPE"`
 	MaxConn  uint   `yaml:"max_conn" default:"2" env:"WAKAPI_DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS"`
 	Ssl      bool   `default:"false" env:"WAKAPI_DB_SSL"`
@@ -181,12 +182,13 @@ func (c *dbConfig) GetDialector() gorm.Dialector {
 
 func mysqlConnectionString(config *dbConfig) string {
 	//location, _ := time.LoadLocation("Local")
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s@tcp(%s:%d)/%s?charset=utf8&parseTime=true&loc=%s&sql_mode=ANSI_QUOTES",
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s@tcp(%s:%d)/%s?charset=%s&parseTime=true&loc=%s&sql_mode=ANSI_QUOTES",
 		config.User,
 		config.Password,
 		config.Host,
 		config.Port,
 		config.Name,
+		config.Charset,
 		"Local",
 	)
 }
diff --git a/middlewares/logging.go b/middlewares/logging.go
index 65fcd3d..03c8019 100644
--- a/middlewares/logging.go
+++ b/middlewares/logging.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func (lg *LoggingMiddleware) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 
 	lg.logFunc(
-		"[request] status=%d, method=%s, uri=%s, duration=%v, bytes=%d, addr=%s, user=%s\n",
+		"[request] status=%d, method=%s, uri=%s, duration=%v, bytes=%d, addr=%s",
 		ww.Status(),
 		r.Method,
 		r.URL.String(),
diff --git a/scripts/push_sample_data.py b/scripts/push_sample_data.py
index 796d310..738cc8f 100644
--- a/scripts/push_sample_data.py
+++ b/scripts/push_sample_data.py
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ def post_data_sync(data: List[Heartbeat], url: str, api_key: str):
 
 
 def randomword(length: int) -> str:
-    letters = string.ascii_lowercase
+    letters = string.ascii_lowercase + 'äöü💩'  # test utf8 and utf8mb4 characters as well
     return ''.join(random.choice(letters) for _ in range(length))
 
 
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
index ae96cc7..2f4320f 100644
--- a/version.txt
+++ b/version.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.24.3
+1.24.4