diff --git a/nova/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/216_havana.py b/nova/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/216_havana.py
index 1712784e4b..0469e5a265 100644
--- a/nova/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/216_havana.py
+++ b/nova/db/sqlalchemy/migrate_repo/versions/216_havana.py
@@ -1536,13 +1536,14 @@ def upgrade(migrate_engine):
                                    refcolumns=fkey_pair[1])
             fkey.create()
 
-    if migrate_engine.name == "mysql":
+    if migrate_engine.name == 'mysql':
         # In Folsom we explicitly converted migrate_version to UTF8.
-        sql = "ALTER TABLE migrate_version CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8;"
+        migrate_engine.execute(
+            'ALTER TABLE migrate_version CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8')
         # Set default DB charset to UTF8.
-        sql += "ALTER DATABASE %s DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8;" % \
-                migrate_engine.url.database
-        migrate_engine.execute(sql)
+        migrate_engine.execute(
+            'ALTER DATABASE %s DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8' %
+            migrate_engine.url.database)
 
     _create_shadow_tables(migrate_engine)