diff --git a/attributes/default.rb b/attributes/default.rb
index f7b2143138f2df023e1134f147d0173fd67b159f..e71c7d07f1fde391a0d5fda60f3ba0d870e46b66 100644
--- a/attributes/default.rb
+++ b/attributes/default.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ default['typo3_site']['repository_hostname'] = ''
 default['typo3_site']['repository_port'] = 22
 default['typo3_site']['download_typo3'] = false
 default['typo3_site']['typo3_version'] = '6.2'
+default['typo3_site']['mysql_version'] = '5.6'
 default['typo3_site']['deploy_dump'] = '~/site/dump.sql'
 
 default['typo3_site']['solr']['init'] = false
diff --git a/recipes/default.rb b/recipes/default.rb
index dd542c60c33b3576e551449c3cd687fe32020492..b33d7e4f9a9b9843b558f368db4a8b96c609c295 100644
--- a/recipes/default.rb
+++ b/recipes/default.rb
@@ -292,14 +292,17 @@ end
 ###################
 
 mysql_service 'default' do
-	version '5.6'
+	version node['typo3_site']['mysql_version']
 	initial_root_password 'root'
 	action [:create, :start]
 end
 
-mysql_config 'default' do
-	source 'my.cnf.erb'
-	action :create
+# overwrite the configuration only for MySQL 5.6 (disables the strict checks)
+if node['typo3_site']['mysql_version'] === '5.6'
+	mysql_config 'default' do
+		source "my-#{node['typo3_site']['mysql_version']}.cnf.erb"
+		action :create
+	end
 end
 
 mysql_client 'default' do
@@ -359,22 +362,14 @@ node['typo3_site']['sync_databases'].each do |database_data|
 			action :run
 		end
 
-		# load the dump
-		bash 'Import Dump for ' + database_data['database_name'] do
-			code <<-EOF
-				mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -u root -proot #{database_data['database_name']} < #{database_data['dump_local']}
-			EOF
-			action :run
+		# this would be better, but currently buggy in the database cookbook
+		# https://github.com/opscode-cookbooks/database/issues/128
+		mysql_database 'Import Dump for ' + database_data['database_name'] do
+			connection connection_info
+			database_name database_data['database_name']
+			sql { ::File.open(database_data['dump_local']).read }
+			action :query
 		end
-
-		# # this would be better, but currently buggy in the database cookbook
-		# # https://github.com/opscode-cookbooks/database/issues/128
-		# mysql_database 'Import Dump for ' + database_data['database_name'] do
-		# 	connection connection_info
-		# 	database_name #{database_data['database_name']}
-		# 	sql { ::File.open(#{database_data['dump_local']}).read }
-		# 	action :query
-		# end
 	end
 
 	if database_data['post_install_queries']
diff --git a/templates/default/my.cnf.erb b/templates/default/my-5.6.cnf.erb
similarity index 100%
rename from templates/default/my.cnf.erb
rename to templates/default/my-5.6.cnf.erb