diff --git a/core/attributedef.class.inc.php b/core/attributedef.class.inc.php
index 470458185..3218e4e9d 100644
--- a/core/attributedef.class.inc.php
+++ b/core/attributedef.class.inc.php
@@ -111,15 +111,6 @@ define('LINKSET_EDITMODE_ADDREMOVE', 4); // The "linked" objects can be added/re
  */
 abstract class AttributeDefinition
 {
-	/**
-	 * SQL charset & collation declaration for text columns
-	 *
-	 * @see https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/charset-column.html
-	 * @since 2.5 #1001 switch to utf8mb4
-	 */
-	const SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET = ' CHARACTER SET '.DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET.' COLLATE '.DEFAULT_COLLATION;
-
-
 	public function GetType()
 	{
 		return Dict::S('Core:'.get_class($this));
@@ -1503,7 +1494,7 @@ class AttributeDBFieldVoid extends AttributeDefinition
 	protected function GetSQLCol($bFullSpec = false)
 	{
 		return 'VARCHAR(255)'
-			.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET
+			.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION
 			.($bFullSpec ? $this->GetSQLColSpec() : '');
 	}
 	protected function GetSQLColSpec()
@@ -2118,7 +2109,7 @@ class AttributeString extends AttributeDBField
 	protected function GetSQLCol($bFullSpec = false)
 	{
 		return 'VARCHAR(255)'
-			.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET
+			.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION
 			.($bFullSpec ? $this->GetSQLColSpec() : '');
 	}
 
@@ -2510,7 +2501,7 @@ class AttributePassword extends AttributeString
 	protected function GetSQLCol($bFullSpec = false)
 	{
 		return "VARCHAR(64)"
-			.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET
+			.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION
 			.($bFullSpec ? $this->GetSQLColSpec() : '');
 	}
 
@@ -2641,7 +2632,7 @@ class AttributeText extends AttributeString
 
 	protected function GetSQLCol($bFullSpec = false)
 	{
-		return "TEXT".self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET;
+		return "TEXT".CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION;
 	}
 
 	public function GetSQLColumns($bFullSpec = false)
@@ -2651,7 +2642,7 @@ class AttributeText extends AttributeString
 		if ($this->GetOptional('format', null) != null )
 		{
 			// Add the extra column only if the property 'format' is specified for the attribute
-			$aColumns[$this->Get('sql').'_format'] = "ENUM('text','html')".self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET;
+			$aColumns[$this->Get('sql').'_format'] = "ENUM('text','html')".CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION;
 			if ($bFullSpec)
 			{
 				$aColumns[$this->Get('sql').'_format'].= " DEFAULT 'text'"; // default 'text' is for migrating old records
@@ -2975,7 +2966,7 @@ class AttributeLongText extends AttributeText
 {
 	protected function GetSQLCol($bFullSpec = false)
 	{
-		return "LONGTEXT".self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET;
+		return "LONGTEXT".CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION;
 	}
 
 	public function GetMaxSize()
@@ -3155,7 +3146,7 @@ class AttributeCaseLog extends AttributeLongText
 	{
 		$aColumns = array();
 		$aColumns[$this->GetCode()] = 'LONGTEXT' // 2^32 (4 Gb)
-			.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET;
+			.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION;
 		$aColumns[$this->GetCode().'_index'] = 'BLOB';
 		return $aColumns;
 	}
@@ -3499,13 +3490,13 @@ class AttributeEnum extends AttributeString
 			// make sure that this string will match the field type returned by the DB
 			// (used to perform a comparison between the current DB format and the data model)
 			return "ENUM(".implode(",", $aValues).")"
-				.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET
+				.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION
 				.($bFullSpec ? $this->GetSQLColSpec() : '');
 		}
 		else
 		{
 			return "VARCHAR(255)"
-				.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET
+				.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION
 				.($bFullSpec ? " DEFAULT ''" : ""); // ENUM() is not an allowed syntax!
 		}
 	}
@@ -5238,7 +5229,7 @@ class AttributeURL extends AttributeString
 	protected function GetSQLCol($bFullSpec = false)
 	{
 		return "VARCHAR(2048)"
-			.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET
+			.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION
 			.($bFullSpec ? $this->GetSQLColSpec() : '');
 	}
 
@@ -5413,8 +5404,8 @@ class AttributeBlob extends AttributeDefinition
 	{
 		$aColumns = array();
 		$aColumns[$this->GetCode().'_data'] = 'LONGBLOB'; // 2^32 (4 Gb)
-		$aColumns[$this->GetCode().'_mimetype'] = 'VARCHAR(255)'.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET;
-		$aColumns[$this->GetCode().'_filename'] = 'VARCHAR(255)'.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET;
+		$aColumns[$this->GetCode().'_mimetype'] = 'VARCHAR(255)'.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION;
+		$aColumns[$this->GetCode().'_filename'] = 'VARCHAR(255)'.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION;
 		return $aColumns;
 	}
 
@@ -6551,7 +6542,7 @@ class AttributeOneWayPassword extends AttributeDefinition
 	public function GetImportColumns()
 	{
 		$aColumns = array();
-		$aColumns[$this->GetCode()] = 'TINYTEXT'.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET;
+		$aColumns[$this->GetCode()] = 'TINYTEXT'.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION;
 		return $aColumns;
 	}
 
@@ -6622,7 +6613,7 @@ class AttributeTable extends AttributeDBField
 
 	protected function GetSQLCol($bFullSpec = false)
 	{
-		return "LONGTEXT".self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET;
+		return "LONGTEXT".CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION;
 	}
 
 	public function GetMaxSize()
@@ -7025,7 +7016,7 @@ class AttributeRedundancySettings extends AttributeDBField
 	protected function GetSQLCol($bFullSpec = false)
 	{
 		return "VARCHAR(20)"
-			.self::SQL_TEXT_COLUMNS_CHARSET
+			.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION
 			.($bFullSpec ? $this->GetSQLColSpec() : '');
 	}
 
diff --git a/core/cmdbsource.class.inc.php b/core/cmdbsource.class.inc.php
index ac2423647..a7f8d5e00 100644
--- a/core/cmdbsource.class.inc.php
+++ b/core/cmdbsource.class.inc.php
@@ -108,6 +108,14 @@ class MySQLHasGoneAwayException extends MySQLException
  */
 class CMDBSource
 {
+	/**
+	 * SQL charset & collation declaration for text columns
+	 *
+	 * @see https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/charset-column.html
+	 * @since 2.5 #1001 switch to utf8mb4
+	 */
+	const SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION = ' CHARACTER SET '.DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET.' COLLATE '.DEFAULT_COLLATION;
+
 	protected static $m_sDBHost;
 	protected static $m_sDBUser;
 	protected static $m_sDBPwd;
@@ -906,11 +914,22 @@ class CMDBSource
 		if (empty($aTableInfo)) return false;
 		if (!array_key_exists($sField, $aTableInfo["Fields"])) return false;
 		$aFieldData = $aTableInfo["Fields"][$sField];
+
 		$sRet = $aFieldData["Type"];
+
+		$sColumnCharset = $aFieldData["Charset"];
+		$sColumnCollation = $aFieldData["Collation"];
+		if (!empty($sColumnCharset))
+		{
+			$sRet .= ' CHARACTER SET '.$sColumnCharset;
+			$sRet .= ' COLLATE '.$sColumnCollation;
+		}
+
 		if ($aFieldData["Null"] == 'NO')
 		{
 			$sRet .= ' NOT NULL';
 		}
+
 		if (is_numeric($aFieldData["Default"]))
 		{
 			if (strtolower(substr($aFieldData["Type"], 0, 5)) == 'enum(')
@@ -928,6 +947,7 @@ class CMDBSource
 		{
 			$sRet .= ' DEFAULT '.self::Quote($aFieldData["Default"]);
 		}
+
 		return $sRet;
 	}
 
@@ -970,32 +990,34 @@ class CMDBSource
 	private static function _TableInfoCacheInit($sTableName)
 	{
 		if (isset(self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)])
-			&& (self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)] != null)) return;
-
-		try
+			&& (self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)] != null))
 		{
-			// Check if the table exists
-			$aFields = self::QueryToArray("SHOW COLUMNS FROM `$sTableName`");
-			// Note: without backticks, you get an error with some table names (e.g. "group")
-			foreach ($aFields as $aFieldData)
-			{
-				$sFieldName = $aFieldData["Field"];
-				self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)]["Fields"][$sFieldName] =
-					array
-					(
-						"Name"=>$aFieldData["Field"],
-						"Type"=>$aFieldData["Type"],
-						"Null"=>$aFieldData["Null"],
-						"Key"=>$aFieldData["Key"],
-						"Default"=>$aFieldData["Default"],
-						"Extra"=>$aFieldData["Extra"]
-					);
-			}
+			return;
 		}
-		catch(MySQLException $e)
+
+		// Create array entry, if table does not exist / has no columns
+		self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)] = null;
+
+		// Get table informations
+		//   We were using SHOW COLUMNS FROM... but this don't return charset and collation info !
+		//   so since 2.5 and #1001 (switch to utf8mb4) we're using INFORMATION_SCHEMA !
+		$aFields = self::QueryToArray('SELECT * FROM information_schema.`COLUMNS`'
+			.' WHERE table_schema = "'.self::$m_sDBName.'" AND table_name = "'.$sTableName.'";');
+		foreach ($aFields as $aFieldData)
 		{
-			// Table does not exist
-			self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)] = null;
+			$sFieldName = $aFieldData["COLUMN_NAME"];
+			self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)]["Fields"][$sFieldName] =
+				array
+				(
+					"Name" => $sFieldName,
+					"Type" => $aFieldData["COLUMN_TYPE"],
+					"Null" => $aFieldData["IS_NULLABLE"],
+					"Key" => $aFieldData["COLUMN_KEY"],
+					"Default" => $aFieldData["COLUMN_DEFAULT"],
+					"Extra" => $aFieldData["EXTRA"],
+					"Charset" => $aFieldData["CHARACTER_SET_NAME"],
+					"Collation" => $aFieldData["COLLATION_NAME"],
+				);
 		}
 
 		if (!is_null(self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)]))
@@ -1009,25 +1031,13 @@ class CMDBSource
 			self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTableName)]["Indexes"] = $aMyIndexes;
 		}
 	}
-	//public static function EnumTables()
-	//{
-	//	self::_TablesInfoCacheInit();
-	//	return array_keys(self::$m_aTablesInfo);
-	//}
+
 	public static function GetTableInfo($sTable)
 	{
 		self::_TableInfoCacheInit($sTable);
 
 		// perform a case insensitive match because on Windows the table names become lowercase :-(
-		//foreach(self::$m_aTablesInfo as $sTableName => $aInfo)
-		//{
-		//	if (strtolower($sTableName) == strtolower($sTable))
-		//	{
-		//		return $aInfo;
-		//	}
-		//}
 		return self::$m_aTablesInfo[strtolower($sTable)];
-		//return null;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/core/metamodel.class.php b/core/metamodel.class.php
index b3aaaa90b..aa678bad2 100644
--- a/core/metamodel.class.php
+++ b/core/metamodel.class.php
@@ -4921,9 +4921,12 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 		$aErrors = array();
 		$aSugFix = array();
 
+		$sAlterDBMetaData = self::DBCheckCharsetAndCollation();
+
 		// A new way of representing things to be done - quicker to execute !
 		$aCreateTable = array(); // array of <table> => <table options>
 		$aCreateTableItems = array(); // array of <table> => array of <create definition>
+		$aAlterTableMetaData = array();
 		$aAlterTableItems = array(); // array of <table> => <alter specification>
 
 		foreach(self::GetClasses() as $sClass)
@@ -4933,10 +4936,10 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 				continue;
 			}
 
-
 			// Check that the table exists
 			//
 			$sTable = self::DBGetTable($sClass);
+			$bTableToCreate = false;
 			$sKeyField = self::DBGetKey($sClass);
 			$sDbCharset = DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET;
 			$sDbCollation = DEFAULT_COLLATION;
@@ -4944,6 +4947,7 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 			$sKeyFieldDefinition = "`$sKeyField` INT(11) NOT NULL $sAutoIncrement PRIMARY KEY";
 			if (!CMDBSource::IsTable($sTable))
 			{
+				$bTableToCreate = true;
 				$aErrors[$sClass]['*'][] = "table '$sTable' could not be found in the DB";
 				$aSugFix[$sClass]['*'][] = "CREATE TABLE `$sTable` ($sKeyFieldDefinition) ENGINE = ".MYSQL_ENGINE." CHARACTER SET $sDbCharset COLLATE $sDbCollation";
 				$aCreateTable[$sTable] = "ENGINE = ".MYSQL_ENGINE." CHARACTER SET $sDbCharset COLLATE $sDbCollation";
@@ -4955,7 +4959,7 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 			{
 				$aErrors[$sClass]['id'][] = "key '$sKeyField' (table $sTable) could not be found";
 				$aSugFix[$sClass]['id'][] = "ALTER TABLE `$sTable` ADD $sKeyFieldDefinition";
-				if (!array_key_exists($sTable, $aCreateTable))
+				if (!$bTableToCreate)
 				{
 					$aAlterTableItems[$sTable][$sKeyField] = "ADD $sKeyFieldDefinition";
 				}
@@ -4968,7 +4972,7 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 				{
 					$aErrors[$sClass]['id'][] = "key '$sKeyField' is not a key for table '$sTable'";
 					$aSugFix[$sClass]['id'][] = "ALTER TABLE `$sTable`, DROP PRIMARY KEY, ADD PRIMARY key(`$sKeyField`)";
-					if (!array_key_exists($sTable, $aCreateTable))
+					if (!$bTableToCreate)
 					{
 						$aAlterTableItems[$sTable][$sKeyField] = "CHANGE `$sKeyField` $sKeyFieldDefinition";
 					}
@@ -4977,13 +4981,22 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 				{
 					$aErrors[$sClass]['id'][] = "key '$sKeyField' (table $sTable) is not automatically incremented";
 					$aSugFix[$sClass]['id'][] = "ALTER TABLE `$sTable` CHANGE `$sKeyField` $sKeyFieldDefinition";
-					if (!array_key_exists($sTable, $aCreateTable))
+					if (!$bTableToCreate)
 					{
 						$aAlterTableItems[$sTable][$sKeyField] = "CHANGE `$sKeyField` $sKeyFieldDefinition";
 					}
 				}
 			}
 
+			if (!$bTableToCreate)
+			{
+				$sAlterTableMetaDataQuery = self::DBCheckTableCharsetAndCollation($sTable);
+				if (!empty($sAlterTableMetaDataQuery))
+				{
+					$aAlterTableMetaData[$sTable] = $sAlterTableMetaDataQuery;
+				}
+			}
+
 			// Check that any defined field exists
 			//
 			$aTableInfo = CMDBSource::GetTableInfo($sTable);
@@ -5014,7 +5027,7 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 						{
 							$aSugFix[$sClass][$sAttCode][] = "ALTER TABLE `$sTable` ADD INDEX (`$sField`)";
 						}
-						if (array_key_exists($sTable, $aCreateTable))
+						if ($bTableToCreate)
 						{
 							$aCreateTableItems[$sTable][$sField] = $sFieldDefinition;
 							if ($bIndexNeeded)
@@ -5087,7 +5100,7 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 						$aErrors[$sClass]['*'][] = "Missing index '$sIndexId' ($sColumns) in table '$sTable'";
 						$aSugFix[$sClass]['*'][] = "ALTER TABLE `$sTable` ADD INDEX `$sIndexId` ($sColumns)";
 					}
-					if (array_key_exists($sTable, $aCreateTable))
+					if ($bTableToCreate)
 					{
 						$aCreateTableItems[$sTable][] = "INDEX `$sIndexId` ($sColumns)";
 					}
@@ -5122,12 +5135,20 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 		}
 
 		$aCondensedQueries = array();
+		if (!empty($sAlterDBMetaData))
+		{
+			$aCondensedQueries[] = $sAlterDBMetaData;
+		}
 		foreach($aCreateTable as $sTable => $sTableOptions)
 		{
 			$sTableItems = implode(', ', $aCreateTableItems[$sTable]);
 			$aCondensedQueries[] = "CREATE TABLE `$sTable` ($sTableItems) $sTableOptions";
 		}
-		foreach($aAlterTableItems as $sTable => $aChangeList)
+		foreach ($aAlterTableMetaData as $sTableAlterQuery)
+		{
+			$aCondensedQueries[] = $sTableAlterQuery;
+		}
+		foreach ($aAlterTableItems as $sTable => $aChangeList)
 		{
 			$sChangeList = implode(', ', $aChangeList);
 			$aCondensedQueries[] = "ALTER TABLE `$sTable` $sChangeList";
@@ -5136,6 +5157,59 @@ abstract class MetaModel
 		return array($aErrors, $aSugFix, $aCondensedQueries);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @return string query to upgrade database charset and collation if needed, null if not
+	 * @throws \MySQLException
+	 *
+	 * @since 2.5 #1001 switch to utf8mb4
+	 * @see https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/charset-database.html
+	 */
+	private static function DBCheckCharsetAndCollation()
+	{
+		$sDBName = CMDBSource::DBName();
+		$sDBInfoQuery = "SELECT DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME, DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME
+			FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA WHERE SCHEMA_NAME = '$sDBName';";
+		$aDBInfo = CMDBSource::QueryToArray($sDBInfoQuery);
+		$sDBCharset = $aDBInfo[0]['DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET_NAME'];
+		$sDBCollation = $aDBInfo[0]['DEFAULT_COLLATION_NAME'];
+
+		if ((DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET == $sDBCharset) && (DEFAULT_COLLATION == $sDBCollation))
+		{
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		return 'ALTER DATABASE'.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION.';';
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @param string $sTableName
+	 *
+	 * @return string query to upgrade table charset and collation if needed, null if not
+	 * @throws \MySQLException
+	 *
+	 * @since 2.5 #1001 switch to utf8mb4
+	 * @see https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/charset-table.html
+	 */
+	private static function DBCheckTableCharsetAndCollation($sTableName)
+	{
+		$sDBName = CMDBSource::DBName();
+		$sTableInfoQuery = "SELECT C.character_set_name, T.table_collation
+			FROM information_schema.`TABLES` T inner join information_schema.`COLLATION_CHARACTER_SET_APPLICABILITY` C
+				ON T.table_collation = C.collation_name
+			WHERE T.table_schema = '$sDBName'
+  			AND T.table_name = '$sTableName';";
+		$aTableInfo = CMDBSource::QueryToArray($sTableInfoQuery);
+		$sTableCharset = $aTableInfo[0]['character_set_name'];
+		$sTableCollation = $aTableInfo[0]['table_collation'];
+
+		if ((DEFAULT_CHARACTER_SET == $sTableCharset) && (DEFAULT_COLLATION == $sTableCollation))
+		{
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		return 'ALTER TABLE `'.$sTableName.'`'.CMDBSource::SQL_STRING_COLUMNS_CHARSET_DEFINITION.';';
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @return array
 	 * @throws \CoreException