diff --git a/doc/source/upgrade-guide/manual-upgrade.rst b/doc/source/upgrade-guide/manual-upgrade.rst
index 3634901b6b..6e172fe803 100644
--- a/doc/source/upgrade-guide/manual-upgrade.rst
+++ b/doc/source/upgrade-guide/manual-upgrade.rst
@@ -119,6 +119,16 @@ See :ref:`user-secrets-playbook` for more details.
 
     # openstack-ansible "${UPGRADE_PLAYBOOKS}/user-secrets-adjustment.yml"
 
+Update database collations
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The default database collation has been changed to `utf8_general_ci`. This play
+performs a conversion on existing databases and tables.
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+    # openstack-ansible "${UPGRADE_PLAYBOOKS}/db-collation-alter.yml
+
 Upgrade hosts
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/scripts/run-upgrade.sh b/scripts/run-upgrade.sh
index 496e5b4460..acc602ca27 100755
--- a/scripts/run-upgrade.sh
+++ b/scripts/run-upgrade.sh
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ function main {
         RUN_TASKS+=("${UPGRADE_PLAYBOOKS}/ansible_fact_cleanup.yml")
         RUN_TASKS+=("${UPGRADE_PLAYBOOKS}/deploy-config-changes.yml")
         RUN_TASKS+=("${UPGRADE_PLAYBOOKS}/user-secrets-adjustment.yml")
+        RUN_TASKS+=("${UPGRADE_PLAYBOOKS}/db-collation-alter.yml")
         RUN_TASKS+=("setup-hosts.yml --limit '!galera_all[0]'")
         RUN_TASKS+=("lxc-containers-create.yml --limit galera_all[0]")
         RUN_TASKS+=("${UPGRADE_PLAYBOOKS}/repo-server-pip-conf-removal.yml")
diff --git a/scripts/upgrade-utilities/playbooks/db-collation-alter.yml b/scripts/upgrade-utilities/playbooks/db-collation-alter.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ee16e7965a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/upgrade-utilities/playbooks/db-collation-alter.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+---
+# Copyright 2016, @WalmartLabs
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+- name: Update database collations
+  hosts: galera_all[0]
+  gather_facts: false
+  user: root
+  tasks:
+    - name: Find tables with utf8_unicode_ci collation
+      command: >
+        mysql -e
+        "SELECT T.table_schema, T.table_name FROM information_schema.`TABLES` T,
+         information_schema.`COLLATION_CHARACTER_SET_APPLICABILITY` CCSA
+         WHERE CCSA.collation_name = T.table_collation AND CCSA.CHARACTER_SET_NAME = 'utf8'
+         AND CCSA.COLLATION_NAME = 'utf8_unicode_ci';"
+      register: utf8_unicode_ci_tables
+    - name: Disable foreign key checks
+      command: >
+        mysql -e
+        "SET foreign_key_checks = 0;"
+      when: utf8_unicode_ci_tables.stdout_lines | length > 0
+    - name: Convert tables to utf8_general_ci collation
+      command: >
+        mysql -e
+         "ALTER TABLE {{ item.split()[1] }} CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;"
+         {{ item.split()[0] }}
+      with_items: "{{ utf8_unicode_ci_tables.stdout_lines }}"
+      when: item | search("^(?!table_schema)\w+\t\w+$")
+    - name: Enable foreign key checks
+      command: >
+        mysql -e
+        "SET foreign_key_checks = 1;"
+      when: utf8_unicode_ci_tables.stdout_lines | length > 0
+    - name: Find databases with utf8_unicode_ci collation
+      command: >
+        mysql -e
+        "SELECT SCHEMA_NAME FROM information_schema.SCHEMATA
+         WHERE DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME = 'utf8' AND DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME = 'utf8_unicode_ci';"
+      register: utf8_unicode_ci_databases
+    - name: Convert databases to utf8_general_ci collation
+      command: >
+        mysql -e
+        "ALTER DATABASE {{ item }} CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;"
+      with_items: "{{ utf8_unicode_ci_databases.stdout_lines }}"
+      when: item | search("^(?!SCHEMA_NAME)\w+$")