diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index d9c2294428..29d58cfce3 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '4.6-alpha-37520';
+$wp_version = '4.6-alpha-37521';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.
diff --git a/wp-includes/wp-db.php b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
index 6fcc31a7eb..8d9f84c63e 100644
--- a/wp-includes/wp-db.php
+++ b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
@@ -757,8 +757,13 @@ class wpdb {
 			$this->charset = 'utf8mb4';
 		}
 
-		if ( 'utf8mb4' === $this->charset && ( ! $this->collate || stripos( $this->collate, 'utf8_' ) === 0 ) ) {
-			$this->collate = 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci';
+		if ( 'utf8mb4' === $this->charset ) {
+			// _general_ is outdated, so we can upgrade it to _unicode_, instead.
+			if ( ! $this->collate || 'utf8_general_ci' === $this->collate ) {
+				$this->collate = 'utf8mb4_unicode_ci';
+			} else {
+				$this->collate = str_replace( 'utf8_', 'utf8mb4_', $this->collate );
+			}
 		}
 	}