diff --git a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySql.pas b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySql.pas
index 0c843f3a..72e25546 100644
--- a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySql.pas
+++ b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySql.pas
@@ -440,13 +440,9 @@ begin
     DriverManager.LogMessage(lcConnect, FPlainDriver.GetProtocol, LogMessage);
 
     { Sets a client codepage. }
-    if FClientCodePage <> '' then
-    begin
-      SQL := PChar(Format('SET CHARACTER SET %s', [FClientCodePage]));
-      FPlainDriver.ExecQuery(FHandle, SQL);
-      CheckMySQLError(FPlainDriver, FHandle, lcExecute, SQL);
-      DriverManager.LogMessage(lcExecute, FPlainDriver.GetProtocol, SQL);
-    end;
+    FPlainDriver.SetCharacterSet(FHandle, 'utf8');
+    CheckMySQLError(FPlainDriver, FHandle, lcExecute, LogMessage);
+    DriverManager.LogMessage(lcExecute, FPlainDriver.GetProtocol, LogMessage);
 
     { Sets transaction isolation level. }
     OldLevel := TransactIsolationLevel;
diff --git a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlMetadata.pas b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlMetadata.pas
index 07ce6b30..9016c25b 100644
--- a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlMetadata.pas
+++ b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlMetadata.pas
@@ -2130,9 +2130,9 @@ const
   TypeCodes: array[1..MaxTypeCount] of TZSQLType = (
     stBinaryStream, stBoolean, stShort, stLong, stBinaryStream, stBinaryStream,
     stBinaryStream, stBinaryStream, stBinaryStream, stBytes, stBytes,
-    stString, stAsciiStream, stAsciiStream, stAsciiStream, stAsciiStream,
-    stString, stString, stBigDecimal, stBigDecimal, stInteger, stInteger,
-    stInteger, stShort, stDouble, stFloat, stFloat, stString, stString,
+    stUnicodeString, stUnicodeStream, stUnicodeStream, stUnicodeStream, stUnicodeStream,
+    stUnicodeString, stUnicodeString, stBigDecimal, stBigDecimal, stInteger, stInteger,
+    stInteger, stShort, stDouble, stFloat, stFloat, stUnicodeString, stUnicodeString,
     stDate, stTime, stTimestamp, stTimestamp);
   TypePrecision: array[1..MaxTypeCount] of Integer = (
     64, -1, 4, 16, 16777215, 16777215, MAXBUF, 65535, 255, 255, 255,
diff --git a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlResultSet.pas b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlResultSet.pas
index 770b361f..05d7d004 100644
--- a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlResultSet.pas
+++ b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlResultSet.pas
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ type
     function IsNull(ColumnIndex: Integer): Boolean; override;
     function GetPChar(ColumnIndex: Integer): PChar; override;
     function GetString(ColumnIndex: Integer): string; override;
+    function GetUnicodeString(ColumnIndex: Integer): WideString; override;
     function GetBoolean(ColumnIndex: Integer): Boolean; override;
     function GetByte(ColumnIndex: Integer): ShortInt; override;
     function GetShort(ColumnIndex: Integer): SmallInt; override;
@@ -388,6 +389,11 @@ begin
     SetString(Result, Buffer, Length);
 end;
 
+function TZMySQLResultSet.GetUnicodeString(ColumnIndex: Integer): WideString;
+begin
+  Result := UTF8Decode(GetString(ColumnIndex));
+end;
+
 {**
   Gets the value of the designated column in the current row
   of this <code>ResultSet</code> object as
@@ -693,11 +699,15 @@ end;
     <code>NULL</code>, the value returned is <code>null</code>
 }
 function TZMySQLResultSet.GetUnicodeStream(ColumnIndex: Integer): TStream;
+var
+  s: WideString;
 begin
 {$IFNDEF DISABLE_CHECKING}
   CheckColumnConvertion(ColumnIndex, stUnicodeStream);
 {$ENDIF}
-  Result := nil;
+  s := GetUnicodeString(ColumnIndex);
+  Result := TMemoryStream.Create;
+  Result.WriteBuffer(s[1], Length(s) * SizeOf(s[1]));
 end;
 
 {**
diff --git a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlStatement.pas b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlStatement.pas
index 3a528fc8..f13b7f2e 100644
--- a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlStatement.pas
+++ b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlStatement.pas
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ type
     FPlainDriver: IZMySQLPlainDriver;
   protected
     function CreateExecStatement: IZStatement; override;
-    function GetEscapeString(const Value: string): string;
+    function GetEscapeString(const Value: WideString): WideString;
     function PrepareSQLParam(ParamIndex: Integer): string; override;
   public
     constructor Create(PlainDriver: IZMySQLPlainDriver;
@@ -329,15 +329,15 @@ end;
   @param Value a regular string.
   @return a string in MySQL escape format.
 }
-function TZMySQLPreparedStatement.GetEscapeString(const Value: string): string;
+function TZMySQLPreparedStatement.GetEscapeString(const Value: WideString): WideString;
 var
   BufferLen: Integer;
   Buffer: PChar;
 begin
   BufferLen := Length(Value) * 2 + 1;
   GetMem(Buffer, BufferLen);
-  BufferLen := FPlainDriver.GetEscapeString(FHandle, Buffer, PChar(Value), Length(Value));
-  Result := '''' + BufferToStr(Buffer, BufferLen) + '''';
+  BufferLen := FPlainDriver.GetEscapeString(FHandle, Buffer, PChar(UTF8Encode(Value)), Length(Value));
+  Result := '''' + UTF8Decode(BufferToStr(Buffer, BufferLen)) + '''';
   FreeMem(Buffer);
 end;
 
@@ -374,6 +374,8 @@ begin
         Result := SoftVarManager.GetAsString(Value);
       stString, stBytes:
         Result := GetEscapeString(SoftVarManager.GetAsString(Value));
+      stUnicodeString:
+        Result := GetEscapeString(SoftVarManager.GetAsUnicodeString(Value));
       stDate:
       begin
         {$IFNDEF VER130BELOW}
diff --git a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlUtils.pas b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlUtils.pas
index 93482f73..a823d145 100644
--- a/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlUtils.pas
+++ b/components/zeosdbo/src/dbc/ZDbcMySqlUtils.pas
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ begin
       begin
         if Signed then Result := stLong
         //else Result := stBigDecimal;
-        else Result := stString;
+        else Result := stUnicodeString;
       end;
     FIELD_TYPE_FLOAT:
 //      Result := stFloat;
@@ -211,34 +211,34 @@ begin
       Result := stDouble;
     FIELD_TYPE_DATE, FIELD_TYPE_NEWDATE:
       //Result := stDate;
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_TIME:
       //Result := stTime;
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_DATETIME, FIELD_TYPE_TIMESTAMP:
       //Result := stTimestamp;
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_TINY_BLOB, FIELD_TYPE_MEDIUM_BLOB,
     FIELD_TYPE_LONG_BLOB, FIELD_TYPE_BLOB:
       if (FieldFlags and BINARY_FLAG) = 0 then
-        Result := stAsciiStream
+        Result := stUnicodeStream
       else Result := stBinaryStream;
     FIELD_TYPE_BIT:
       Result := stBinaryStream;
     FIELD_TYPE_VARCHAR:
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_VAR_STRING:
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_STRING:
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_ENUM:
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_SET:
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_NULL:
       // Example: SELECT NULL FROM DUAL
       // Todo: Find out if it is possible to get real data in a TYPE_NULL field, perhaps adjust to binary or some such?
-      Result := stString;
+      Result := stUnicodeString;
     FIELD_TYPE_GEOMETRY:
       // Todo: Would be nice to show as WKT.
       Result := stBinaryStream;
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ begin
       raise Exception.Create('Unknown MySQL data type!');
   end;
   { SHOW FULL PROCESSLIST on 4.x servers can return veeery long FIELD_TYPE_VAR_STRINGs. The following helps avoid excessive row buffer allocation later on. }
-  if (Result = stString) and (PlainDriver.GetFieldLength(FieldHandle) > 8192) then Result := stAsciiStream;
+  if (Result = stUnicodeString) and (PlainDriver.GetFieldLength(FieldHandle) > 8192) then Result := stUnicodeStream;
 end;
 
 {**
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ begin
   begin
     // Zeos uses a floating point type for unsigned int64..
     //if IsUnsigned then Result := stBigDecimal
-    if IsUnsigned then Result := stString
+    if IsUnsigned then Result := stUnicodeString
     else Result := stLong;
   end
   else if TypeName = 'INT24' then
@@ -335,21 +335,21 @@ begin
   else if TypeName = 'DOUBLE' then
     Result := stDouble
   else if TypeName = 'CHAR' then
-    Result := stString
+    Result := stUnicodeString
   else if TypeName = 'VARCHAR' then
-    Result := stString
+    Result := stUnicodeString
   else if TypeName = 'VARBINARY' then
     Result := stBytes
   else if TypeName = 'BINARY' then
     Result := stBytes
   else if TypeName = 'DATE' then
-    Result := stString
+    Result := stUnicodeString
   else if TypeName = 'TIME' then
-    Result := stString
+    Result := stUnicodeString
   else if TypeName = 'TIMESTAMP' then
-    Result := stString
+    Result := stUnicodeString
   else if TypeName = 'DATETIME' then
-    Result := stString
+    Result := stUnicodeString
   else if TypeName = 'TINYBLOB' then
     Result := stBinaryStream
   else if TypeName = 'BLOB' then
@@ -359,17 +359,17 @@ begin
   else if TypeName = 'LONGBLOB' then
     Result := stBinaryStream
   else if TypeName = 'TINYTEXT' then
-    Result := stAsciiStream
+    Result := stUnicodeStream
   else if TypeName = 'TEXT' then
-    Result := stAsciiStream
+    Result := stUnicodeStream
   else if TypeName = 'MEDIUMTEXT' then
-    Result := stAsciiStream
+    Result := stUnicodeStream
   else if TypeName = 'LONGTEXT' then
-    Result := stAsciiStream
+    Result := stUnicodeStream
   else if TypeName = 'ENUM' then
-    Result := stString
+    Result := stUnicodeString
   else if TypeName = 'SET' then
-    Result := stString
+    Result := stUnicodeString
   else if TypeName = 'BIT' then
     Result := stBinaryStream
   else for i := 0 to Length(GeoTypes)-1 do if GeoTypes[i] = TypeName then Result := stBinaryStream;
diff --git a/components/zeosdbo/src/plain/ZPlainMySqlDriver.pas b/components/zeosdbo/src/plain/ZPlainMySqlDriver.pas
index d76b1bcc..3ba3573b 100644
--- a/components/zeosdbo/src/plain/ZPlainMySqlDriver.pas
+++ b/components/zeosdbo/src/plain/ZPlainMySqlDriver.pas
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ type
 
     function GetAffectedRows(Handle: PZMySQLConnect): Int64;
     // char_set_name
+    procedure SetCharacterSet(Handle: PZMySQLConnect; const CharSet: PChar);
     procedure Close(Handle: PZMySQLConnect);
     function Connect(Handle: PZMySQLConnect; const Host, User, Password: PChar): PZMySQLConnect;
     function CreateDatabase(Handle: PZMySQLConnect; const Database: PChar): Integer;
@@ -786,6 +787,7 @@ type
     function StoreResult(Handle: PZMySQLConnect): PZMySQLResult;
     function UseResult(Handle: PZMySQLConnect): PZMySQLResult;
     procedure FreeResult(Res: PZMySQLResult);
+    procedure SetCharacterSet(Handle: PZMySQLConnect; const CharSet: PChar);
     function GetAffectedRows(Handle: PZMySQLConnect): Int64;
 
     function FetchRow(Res: PZMySQLResult): PZMySQLRow;
@@ -869,6 +871,7 @@ type
     function Rollback (Handle: PZMySQLConnect): Boolean;
     function GetSQLState (Handle: PZMySQLConnect): AnsiString;
 
+    procedure SetCharacterSet(Handle: PZMySQLConnect; const CharSet: PChar);
     function GetPreparedAffectedRows (Handle: PZMySqlPrepStmt): Int64;
     function BindParameters (Handle: PZMySqlPrepStmt; bindArray: PZMysqlBindArray): Byte;
     function BindResult (Handle: PZMySqlPrepStmt;  bindArray: PZMysqlBindArray): Byte;
@@ -2583,6 +2586,11 @@ begin
   MYSQL_API.mysql_free_result(Res);
 end;
 
+procedure TZMySQL41PlainDriver.SetCharacterSet(Handle: PZMySQLConnect; const CharSet: PChar);
+begin
+  MYSQL_API.mysql_set_character_set(Handle, CharSet);
+end;
+
 function TZMySQL41PlainDriver.GetAffectedRows(Handle: PZMySQLConnect): Int64;
 begin
   Result := MYSQL_API.mysql_affected_rows(Handle);
@@ -3108,6 +3116,11 @@ begin
   MYSQL_API.mysql_free_result(Res);
 end;
 
+procedure TZMySQL5PlainDriver.SetCharacterSet(Handle: PZMySQLConnect; const CharSet: PChar);
+begin
+  MYSQL_API.mysql_set_character_set(Handle, CharSet);
+end;
+
 function TZMySQL5PlainDriver.GetAffectedRows(Handle: PZMySQLConnect): Int64;
 begin
   Result := MYSQL_API.mysql_affected_rows(Handle);