diff --git a/lib/MySQL_Protocol.cpp b/lib/MySQL_Protocol.cpp
index 27a6c76b3..59078fb02 100644
--- a/lib/MySQL_Protocol.cpp
+++ b/lib/MySQL_Protocol.cpp
@@ -1251,7 +1251,7 @@ bool MySQL_Protocol::generate_pkt_initial_handshake(bool send, void **ptr, unsig
 	(*myds)->myconn->options.server_capabilities=mysql_thread___server_capabilities;
   memcpy(_ptr+l,&mysql_thread___server_capabilities, sizeof(mysql_thread___server_capabilities)/2); l+=sizeof(mysql_thread___server_capabilities)/2;
   const MARIADB_CHARSET_INFO *ci = NULL;
-  ci = proxysql_find_charset_name(mysql_thread___default_variables[SQL_CHARACTER_SET]);
+  ci = proxysql_find_charset_collate(mysql_thread___default_variables[SQL_COLLATION_CONNECTION]);
   if (!ci) {
 		// LCOV_EXCL_START
 	  proxy_error("Cannot find character set for name [%s]. Configuration error. Check [%s] global variable.\n",
diff --git a/test/tap/tap/command_line.h b/test/tap/tap/command_line.h
index 43a6be984..4847b460d 100644
--- a/test/tap/tap/command_line.h
+++ b/test/tap/tap/command_line.h
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef COMMAND_LINE_H
 #define COMMAND_LINE_H
 
+#include <cstdint>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <string>
 
diff --git a/test/tap/tests/setparser_test.cpp b/test/tap/tests/setparser_test.cpp
index 0d2325c93..b2be4cc6f 100644
--- a/test/tap/tests/setparser_test.cpp
+++ b/test/tap/tests/setparser_test.cpp
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
  * For now we just declare it locally to avoid the linking error.
  */
 #include "openssl/ssl.h"
+#include "mysql.h"
 #include "proxysql_structs.h"
 #include "sqlite3db.h"
 #include "MySQL_LDAP_Authentication.hpp"
diff --git a/test/tap/tests/sqlite3-t.cpp b/test/tap/tests/sqlite3-t.cpp
index a15a9e857..e41f0068e 100644
--- a/test/tap/tests/sqlite3-t.cpp
+++ b/test/tap/tests/sqlite3-t.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <openssl/ssl.h>
 
+#include "mysql.h"
 #include "proxysql_structs.h"
 #include "sqlite3db.h"
 #include "MySQL_LDAP_Authentication.hpp"
diff --git a/test/tap/tests/test_default_conn_collation-t.cpp b/test/tap/tests/test_default_conn_collation-t.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa8a29ef8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tap/tests/test_default_conn_collation-t.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/**
+ * @file test_default_conn_collation-t.cpp
+ * @brief Verifies that 'mysql-default_collation_connection' behaves as expected.
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include <cstring>
+#include <string>
+
+#include "mysql.h"
+#include "mysql/mysqld_error.h"
+
+#include "tap.h"
+#include "utils.h"
+#include "command_line.h"
+
+using std::string;
+
+const MARIADB_CHARSET_INFO * proxysql_find_charset_nr(unsigned int nr) {
+	const MARIADB_CHARSET_INFO * c = mariadb_compiled_charsets;
+	do {
+		if (c->nr == nr) {
+			return c;
+		}
+		++c;
+	} while (c[0].nr != 0);
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+int check_all_collations(const CommandLine& cl, MYSQL* admin) {
+	const MARIADB_CHARSET_INFO* c = mariadb_compiled_charsets;
+	uint32_t num_tests = 0;
+
+	{
+		mysql_query(admin, "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM mysql_collations WHERE id < 256");
+		MYSQL_RES* myres = mysql_store_result(admin);
+		MYSQL_ROW myrow = mysql_fetch_row(myres);
+
+		if (myrow && myrow[0]) {
+			num_tests = atoi(myrow[0]);
+		}
+	}
+
+	plan(num_tests);
+
+	do {
+		if (c[0].nr > 255) {
+			diag("Skipping collation '%d-%s'...", c[0].nr, c[0].name);
+			c += 1;
+			continue;
+		} else {
+			diag("Testing collation '%d-%s'...", c[0].nr, c[0].name);
+		}
+
+		const char* collate_name = c->name;
+		string SET_STMT { "SET mysql-default_collation_connection='" + string { collate_name } + "'" };
+
+		MYSQL_QUERY_T(admin, SET_STMT.c_str());
+		MYSQL_QUERY_T(admin, "LOAD MYSQL VARIABLES TO RUNTIME");
+
+		MYSQL* proxy = mysql_init(NULL);
+
+		if (!mysql_real_connect(proxy, cl.host, cl.username, cl.password, NULL, cl.port, NULL, 0)) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "File %s, line %d, Error: %s\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, mysql_error(proxy));
+			return EXIT_FAILURE;
+		}
+
+		const MARIADB_CHARSET_INFO* charset_info = proxysql_find_charset_nr(proxy->server_language);
+		printf("%s\n", charset_info->name);
+
+		mysql_close(proxy);
+
+		ok(
+			strcmp(c->name, charset_info->name) == 0,
+			"Set collation should match ProxySQL received one - Exp: %s, Act: %s\n",
+			c->name, charset_info->name
+		);
+
+		c += 1;
+	} while (c[0].nr != 0);
+
+	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv) {
+	CommandLine cl;
+
+	if (cl.getEnv()) {
+		diag("Failed to get the required environmental variables.");
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
+
+
+	MYSQL* admin = mysql_init(NULL);
+
+	if (!mysql_real_connect(admin, cl.host, cl.admin_username, cl.admin_password, NULL, cl.admin_port, NULL, 0)) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "File %s, line %d, Error: %s\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, mysql_error(admin));
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
+
+	check_all_collations(cl, admin);
+
+cleanup:
+
+	mysql_close(admin);
+
+	return exit_status();
+}