diff --git a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/main.yaml b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/main.yaml
index dc87325428..3ffaa78ebc 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -297,6 +297,13 @@
 - name: Start gerrit
   include_tasks: start.yaml
 
+- name: Set up root mysql conf file
+  when: gerrit_database_type == 'MYSQL'
+  template:
+    src: root.my.cnf.j2
+    dest: /root/.gerrit_db.cnf
+    mode: 0400
+
 - name: Set up cron job to optmize git repos
   cron:
     name: optmize-git-repos
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/root.my.cnf.j2 b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/root.my.cnf.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..379921f764
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/root.my.cnf.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[client]
+host={{ gerrit_mysql_host }}
+user=gerrit2
+password={{ gerrit_mysql_password }}
+ssl=false