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
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@
       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';
       }
diff -u b/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
--- b/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -761,6 +761,7 @@
       ),
       'name' => array(
         'description' => 'The key of the key-value pair. As KEY is a SQL reserved keyword, name was chosen instead.',
+        'type' => 'varchar_ascii',
         'length' => 128,
         'not null' => TRUE,
         'default' => '',