diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Connection.php
@@ -180,19 +180,16 @@
       'init_commands' => [],
     ];
 
+    $sql_mode = 'ANSI,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,STRICT_ALL_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY';
     // NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER is removed in MySQL 8.0.11
     // https://dev.mysql.com/doc/relnotes/mysql/8.0/en/news-8-0-11.html#mysqld-8-0-11-deprecation-removal
     $version_server = $pdo->getAttribute(\PDO::ATTR_SERVER_VERSION);
-    if (version_compare($version_server, '8.0.11', '>=')) {
-      $connection_options['init_commands'] += array(
-        'sql_mode' => "SET sql_mode = 'ANSI,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,STRICT_ALL_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY'",
-      );
-    }
-    else {
-      $connection_options['init_commands'] += [
-        'sql_mode' => "SET sql_mode = 'ANSI,STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,STRICT_ALL_TABLES,NO_ZERO_IN_DATE,NO_ZERO_DATE,ERROR_FOR_DIVISION_BY_ZERO,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER,ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY'",
-      ];
+    if (version_compare($version_server, '8.0.11', '<')) {
+      $sql_mode .= ',NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER';
     }
+    $connection_options['init_commands'] += [
+      'sql_mode' => "SET sql_mode = '$sql_mode'",
+    ];
 
     // Execute initial commands.
     foreach ($connection_options['init_commands'] as $sql) {
diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Schema.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Schema.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Schema.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Database/Driver/mysql/Schema.php
@@ -154,12 +154,15 @@
       if (isset($spec['length'])) {
         $sql .= '(' . $spec['length'] . ')';
       }
+      if (isset($spec['type']) && $spec['type'] == 'varchar_ascii') {
+        $sql .= ' CHARACTER SET ascii';
+      }
       if (!empty($spec['binary'])) {
         $sql .= ' BINARY';
       }
       // Note we check for the "type" key here. "mysql_type" is VARCHAR:
-      if (isset($spec['type']) && $spec['type'] == 'varchar_ascii') {
-        $sql .= ' CHARACTER SET ascii COLLATE ascii_general_ci';
+      elseif (isset($spec['type']) && $spec['type'] == 'varchar_ascii') {
+        $sql .= ' COLLATE ascii_general_ci';
       }
     }
     elseif (isset($spec['precision']) && isset($spec['scale'])) {