diff --git a/src/mysqlbackend.cpp b/src/mysqlbackend.cpp
index 9bb5eaef76679f4d90feaec5b7c6ce8a40ed46d0..fd810c748cf90e5b7c3855bf39c4e2bd78f43f38 100644
--- a/src/mysqlbackend.cpp
+++ b/src/mysqlbackend.cpp
@@ -205,7 +205,6 @@ int MySQLBackend::Statement::execute() {
 	m_offset = 0;
 	m_resultOffset = 0;
 	int ret;
-
 	if ((ret = mysql_stmt_execute(m_stmt)) != 0) {
 		LOG4CXX_ERROR(logger, m_string << " " << mysql_stmt_error(m_stmt) << "; " << mysql_error(m_conn));
 		return mysql_stmt_errno(m_stmt);
@@ -317,6 +316,10 @@ bool MySQLBackend::connect() {
 		return false;
 	}
 
+	if (!mysql_set_character_set(&m_conn, "utf8")) {
+		LOG4CXX_INFO(logger, "New client character set: " << mysql_character_set_name(&m_conn));
+	}
+
 	createDatabase();
 
 	m_setUser = new Statement(&m_conn, "sssssbss", "INSERT INTO " + m_prefix + "users (jid, uin, password, language, encoding, last_login, vip) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, NOW(), ?) ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE uin=?, password=?");
@@ -608,11 +611,11 @@ void MySQLBackend::updateUserSetting(long id, const std::string &variable, const
 }
 
 void MySQLBackend::beginTransaction() {
-	//exec("START TRANSACTION;");
+	exec("START TRANSACTION;");
 }
 
 void MySQLBackend::commitTransaction() {
-	//exec("COMMIT;");
+	exec("COMMIT;");
 }
 
 }