diff --git a/docker-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/AbstractDockerMojo.java b/docker-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/AbstractDockerMojo.java
index 5884c2967..5f50a1216 100644
--- a/docker-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/AbstractDockerMojo.java
+++ b/docker-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/AbstractDockerMojo.java
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@
 
 abstract class AbstractDockerMojo extends AbstractMojo {
 
-    protected static final String DEFAULT_MYSQL_CONTAINER = "openmrs-sdk-mysql-v3-2";
+    protected static final String DEFAULT_MYSQL_CONTAINER = "openmrs-sdk-mysql-v8-4-1";
     protected static final String DEFAULT_MYSQL_EXPOSED_PORT = "3308";
     protected static final String DEFAULT_MYSQL_PASSWORD = "Admin123";
-    protected static final String MYSQL_5_6 = "mysql:5.6";
+    protected static final String MYSQL_8_4_1 = "mysql:8.4.1";
     protected static final String DEFAULT_MYSQL_DB_URI = "jdbc:mysql://localhost:" + DEFAULT_MYSQL_EXPOSED_PORT + "/";
     private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(AbstractDockerMojo.class);
 
diff --git a/docker-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/CreateMySql.java b/docker-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/CreateMySql.java
index f10a580cc..d56e2fd7c 100644
--- a/docker-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/CreateMySql.java
+++ b/docker-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/CreateMySql.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public void executeTask() throws MojoExecutionException {
     }
 
     private boolean noMySqlImage(DockerClient docker) {
-        List<Image> mysql = docker.listImagesCmd().withImageNameFilter(MYSQL_5_6).exec();
+        List<Image> mysql = docker.listImagesCmd().withImageNameFilter(MYSQL_8_4_1).exec();
         return mysql.size() == 0;
     }
 
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ private void createMysqlContainer(DockerClient docker) {
                 .withPortBindings(portBinding)
                 .withBinds(boundVolume);
 
-        docker.createContainerCmd(MYSQL_5_6)
+        docker.createContainerCmd(MYSQL_8_4_1)
                 .withHostConfig(hostConfig)
                 .withName(container)
                 .withEnv("MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="+rootPassword)
@@ -93,11 +93,11 @@ private void createMysqlContainer(DockerClient docker) {
     private void pullMySqlImage(DockerClient docker) throws MojoExecutionException {
         final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
         docker.pullImageCmd("mysql")
-                .withTag("5.6")
+                .withTag("8.4.1")
                 .exec(new ResultCallback<PullResponseItem>() {
                     @Override
                     public void onStart(Closeable closeable) {
-                        showMessage("Started downloading mysql:5.6 image ...");
+                        showMessage("Started downloading mysql:8.4.1 image ...");
                     }
 
                     @Override
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ public void onNext(PullResponseItem object) {
 
                     @Override
                     public void onError(Throwable throwable) {
-
+                        showMessage("Error downloading mysql:8.4.1 image : " + throwable.getMessage());
                     }
 
                     @Override
diff --git a/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DBConnector.java b/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DBConnector.java
index 24242d0f7..e7d9173b7 100644
--- a/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DBConnector.java
+++ b/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DBConnector.java
@@ -15,7 +15,15 @@ public class DBConnector implements AutoCloseable {
 
 	public DBConnector(String url, String user, String pass, String dbName) throws SQLException {
 		DriverManager.setLoginTimeout(60);
-		this.connection = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, pass);
+		/*
+		 * Connection attempts to a database in a newly created Docker container might fail on the first try due to the container not being fully ready
+		 * This is to mitigate such errors.
+		 */
+		try {
+			this.connection = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, pass);
+		} catch (SQLException e) {
+			this.connection = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, pass);
+		}
 		this.dbName = dbName;
 	}
 
diff --git a/sdk-commons/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DefaultWizard.java b/sdk-commons/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DefaultWizard.java
index 0b0c8ce35..8c3e53e3f 100644
--- a/sdk-commons/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DefaultWizard.java
+++ b/sdk-commons/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DefaultWizard.java
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ public class DefaultWizard implements Wizard {
 
 	public static final String DB_OPTION_MYSQL = "MySQL 5.6 and above (requires pre-installed MySQL 5.6 and above)";
 
-	public static final String DB_OPTION_SDK_DOCKER_MYSQL = "MySQL 5.6 and above in SDK docker container (requires pre-installed Docker)";
+	public static final String DB_OPTION_SDK_DOCKER_MYSQL = "MySQL 8.4.1 and above in SDK docker container (requires pre-installed Docker)";
 
 	public static final String DB_OPTION_DOCKER_MYSQL = "Existing docker container (requires pre-installed Docker)";
 
diff --git a/sdk-commons/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DockerHelper.java b/sdk-commons/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DockerHelper.java
index aad2ac3a1..e51b5cb33 100644
--- a/sdk-commons/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DockerHelper.java
+++ b/sdk-commons/src/main/java/org/openmrs/maven/plugins/utility/DockerHelper.java
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 
 public class DockerHelper {
 
-    public static final String DOCKER_DEFAULT_CONTAINER_ID = "openmrs-sdk-mysql-v3-2";
+    public static final String DOCKER_DEFAULT_CONTAINER_ID = "openmrs-sdk-mysql-v8-4-1";
     public static final String DOCKER_MYSQL_PORT = "3308";
     public static final String DOCKER_MYSQL_USERNAME = "root";
     public static final String DOCKER_MYSQL_PASSWORD = "Admin123";