diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/databases/mysql.nix b/nixos/modules/services/databases/mysql.nix
index df6f3876585e..1ba878957ed9 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/databases/mysql.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/databases/mysql.nix
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ in
             ${optionalString (cfg.ensureDatabases != []) ''
               (
               ${concatMapStrings (database: ''
-                echo "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS ${database};"
+                echo "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS \`${database}\`;"
               '') cfg.ensureDatabases}
               ) | ${mysql}/bin/mysql -u root -N
             ''}