diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/databases/mysql.nix b/nixos/modules/services/databases/mysql.nix
index 36d5340a306f..5b7390503552 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/databases/mysql.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/databases/mysql.nix
@@ -289,10 +289,10 @@ in
                     # Create initial databases
                     if ! test -e "${cfg.dataDir}/${database.name}"; then
                         echo "Creating initial database: ${database.name}"
-                        ( echo "create database ${database.name};"
+                        ( echo "create database `${database.name}`;"
 
                           ${optionalString (database ? "schema") ''
-                          echo "use ${database.name};"
+                          echo "use `${database.name}`;"
 
                           if [ -f "${database.schema}" ]
                           then