diff --git a/core/INSTALL.txt b/core/INSTALL.txt
index 079533c7b6ab8387f556b370fa27578ace853bd5..79c08bdc696230660cdf8239ba62c41cbc1bc42c 100644
--- a/core/INSTALL.txt
+++ b/core/INSTALL.txt
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ Drupal requires:
 - PHP 5.4.5 (or greater) (http://php.net/). For better security support its
   recommended to update to at least 5.5.21 or 5.6.5.
 - One of the following databases:
-  - MySQL 5.0.15 (or greater) (http://www.mysql.com/).
-  - MariaDB 5.1.44 (or greater) (https://mariadb.org/). MariaDB is a fully
+  - MySQL 5.5.3 (or greater) (http://www.mysql.com/).
+  - MariaDB 5.5.20 (or greater) (https://mariadb.org/). MariaDB is a fully
     compatible drop-in replacement for MySQL.
-  - Percona Server 5.1.70 (or greater) (http://www.percona.com/). Percona
+  - Percona Server 5.5.8 (or greater) (http://www.percona.com/). Percona
     Server is a backwards-compatible replacement for MySQL.
   - PostgreSQL 8.3 (or greater) (http://www.postgresql.org/).
   - SQLite 3.4.2 (or greater) (http://www.sqlite.org/).
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Install/Tasks.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Install/Tasks.php
index 44de5049d294651f1262d175c39f762e27adb9aa..02c41e678d70c0a46890211b4e8699096170ed84 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Install/Tasks.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Install/Tasks.php
@@ -23,6 +23,19 @@ class Tasks extends InstallTasks {
    */
   protected $pdoDriver = 'mysql';
 
+  /**
+   * Constructs a \Drupal\Core\Database\Driver\mysql\Install\Tasks object.
+   */
+  public function __construct() {
+    $this->tasks[] = array(
+      'arguments' => array(
+        'SET NAMES utf8mb4',
+        'The %name database server supports utf8mb4 character encoding.',
+        'The %name database server must support utf8mb4 character encoding to work with Drupal. Make sure to use a database server that supports utf8mb4 character encoding, such as MySQL/MariaDB/Percona versions 5.5.3 and up.',
+      ),
+    );
+  }
+
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
@@ -34,7 +47,7 @@ public function name() {
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function minimumVersion() {
-    return '5.1.21';
+    return '5.5.3';
   }
 
   /**