diff --git a/adminer/include/connect.inc.php b/adminer/include/connect.inc.php
index f51ea6b2..434b023a 100644
--- a/adminer/include/connect.inc.php
+++ b/adminer/include/connect.inc.php
@@ -26,4 +26,3 @@ if (!(strlen($_GET["db"]) ? $dbh->select_db($_GET["db"]) : isset($_GET["sql"]) |
 	connect_error(); // separate function to catch SQLite error
 	exit;
 }
-$dbh->query("SET CHARACTER SET utf8");
diff --git a/adminer/include/mysql.inc.php b/adminer/include/mysql.inc.php
index ab8cd640..eb4dc9de 100644
--- a/adminer/include/mysql.inc.php
+++ b/adminer/include/mysql.inc.php
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ function connect() {
 	$dbh = new Min_DB;
 	if ($dbh->connect($_GET["server"], $_SESSION["usernames"][$_GET["server"]], $_SESSION["passwords"][$_GET["server"]])) {
 		$dbh->query("SET SQL_QUOTE_SHOW_CREATE=1");
+		$dbh->query("SET NAMES utf8");
 		return $dbh;
 	}
 	return $dbh->error;
diff --git a/adminer/sql.inc.php b/adminer/sql.inc.php
index 7fe0ee6f..6f2847cb 100644
--- a/adminer/sql.inc.php
+++ b/adminer/sql.inc.php
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ if (!$error && $_POST) {
 		$dbh2 = (strlen($_GET["db"]) ? connect() : null); // connection for exploring indexes (to not replace FOUND_ROWS()) //! PDO - silent error
 		if (is_object($dbh2)) {
 			$dbh2->select_db($_GET["db"]);
-			$dbh2->query("SET CHARACTER SET utf8");
 		}
 		while (strlen($query)) {
 			if (!$offset && preg_match('~^\\s*DELIMITER\\s+(.+)~i', $query, $match)) {