diff --git a/server/database.js b/server/database.js
index 6c435b43c..dbf5a6d69 100644
--- a/server/database.js
+++ b/server/database.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const knex = require("knex");
 const { PluginsManager } = require("./plugins-manager");
 const path = require("path");
 const { EmbeddedMariaDB } = require("./embedded-mariadb");
+const mysql = require("mysql2/promise");
 
 /**
  * Database & App Data Folder
@@ -188,6 +189,19 @@ class Database {
                 }
             };
         } else if (dbConfig.type === "mariadb") {
+            if (!/^\w+$/.test(dbConfig.dbName)) {
+                throw Error("Invalid database name. A database name can only consist of letters, numbers and underscores");
+            }
+
+            const connection = await mysql.createConnection({
+                host: dbConfig.hostname,
+                port: dbConfig.port,
+                user: dbConfig.username,
+                password: dbConfig.password,
+            });
+
+            await connection.execute("CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS " + dbConfig.dbName + " CHARACTER SET utf8mb4");
+
             config = {
                 client: "mysql2",
                 connection: {
diff --git a/server/server.js b/server/server.js
index 8d9ea76d3..021965a09 100644
--- a/server/server.js
+++ b/server/server.js
@@ -614,7 +614,7 @@ let needSetup = false;
                     throw new Error("Password is too weak. It should contain alphabetic and numeric characters. It must be at least 6 characters in length.");
                 }
 
-                if ((await R.count("user")) !== 0) {
+                if ((await R.knex("user").count("id as count").first()).count !== 0) {
                     throw new Error("Uptime Kuma has been initialized. If you want to run setup again, please delete the database.");
                 }
 
@@ -1683,7 +1683,7 @@ async function initDatabase(testMode = false) {
     }
 
     // If there is no record in user table, it is a new Uptime Kuma instance, need to setup
-    if ((await R.count("user")) === 0) {
+    if ((await R.knex("user").count("id as count").first()).count === 0) {
         log.info("server", "No user, need setup");
         needSetup = true;
     }