diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 7aa076f9..ef593c92 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -37,5 +37,5 @@ addons:
       - sqlite3
 
 before_script:
-  - mysql -e 'create database ancestry_test;'
-  - psql -c 'create database ancestry_test;' -U postgres
+  - mysql -e 'CREATE DATABASE ancestry_test CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;'
+  - psql -c 'CREATE DATABASE ancestry_test;' -U postgres