diff --git a/manifests/db/mysql.pp b/manifests/db/mysql.pp
index e63b1c68a..2f7361047 100644
--- a/manifests/db/mysql.pp
+++ b/manifests/db/mysql.pp
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #
 # [*collate*]
 #   (optional) The collate to use for the nova database
-#   Defaults to 'utf8_unicode_ci'
+#   Defaults to 'utf8_general_ci'
 #
 # [*allowed_hosts*]
 #   (optional) Additional hosts that are allowed to access this DB
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class nova::db::mysql(
   $user          = 'nova',
   $host          = '127.0.0.1',
   $charset       = 'utf8',
-  $collate       = 'utf8_unicode_ci',
+  $collate       = 'utf8_general_ci',
   $allowed_hosts = undef,
   $mysql_module  = undef,
 ) {
diff --git a/spec/classes/nova_db_mysql_spec.rb b/spec/classes/nova_db_mysql_spec.rb
index 3290e46a9..cd86ab06d 100644
--- a/spec/classes/nova_db_mysql_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/nova_db_mysql_spec.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ describe 'nova::db::mysql' do
       it { is_expected.to contain_openstacklib__db__mysql('nova').with(
         :user          => 'nova',
         :password_hash => '*AA1420F182E88B9E5F874F6FBE7459291E8F4601',
-        :charset       => 'utf8'
+        :charset       => 'utf8',
+        :collate       => 'utf8_general_ci',
       )}
     end
 
@@ -49,7 +50,8 @@ describe 'nova::db::mysql' do
       it { is_expected.to contain_openstacklib__db__mysql('nova').with(
         :user          => 'nova',
         :password_hash => '*AA1420F182E88B9E5F874F6FBE7459291E8F4601',
-        :charset       => 'utf8'
+        :charset       => 'utf8',
+        :collate       => 'utf8_general_ci',
       )}
     end