diff --git a/.zuul.yaml b/.zuul.yaml
index 058dd112f8..01160aed16 100644
--- a/.zuul.yaml
+++ b/.zuul.yaml
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
     description: |
       Zuul unit tests with ZooKeeper running
     parent: nox
-    nodeset: ubuntu-jammy
+    nodeset: debian-bookworm
     pre-run: playbooks/zuul-nox/pre.yaml
     post-run: playbooks/zuul-nox/post-system-logs.yaml
     vars:
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@
 - job:
     name: zuul-nox-remote
     parent: nox
-    nodeset: ubuntu-jammy
+    nodeset: debian-bookworm
     timeout: 2700  # 45 minutes
     pre-run: playbooks/zuul-nox/pre.yaml
     post-run: playbooks/zuul-nox/post-system-logs.yaml
diff --git a/bindep.txt b/bindep.txt
index 083c6a1805..e6117d8a07 100644
--- a/bindep.txt
+++ b/bindep.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # This is a cross-platform list tracking distribution packages needed by tests;
 # see http://docs.openstack.org/infra/bindep/ for additional information.
 
-mysql-client [test !platform:rpm]
+mariadb-client [test !platform:rpm]
+mariadb-server [test]
 mysql [test platform:rpm]
-mysql-server [test]
 postgresql [test]
 openssl [test]
 musl-dev [compile test platform:apk]
diff --git a/tests/base.py b/tests/base.py
index 6e8874495e..8726d009c7 100644
--- a/tests/base.py
+++ b/tests/base.py
@@ -1723,7 +1723,7 @@ class MySQLSchemaFixture(fixtures.Fixture):
             if connected:
                 db.close()
 
-        self.dburi = 'mysql+pymysql://{name}:{passwd}@{host}:{port}/{name}'\
+        self.dburi = 'mariadb+pymysql://{name}:{passwd}@{host}:{port}/{name}'\
             .format(
                 name=self.name,
                 passwd=self.passwd,
diff --git a/tools/docker-compose.yaml b/tools/docker-compose.yaml
index 05b4905e2e..71f75f051d 100644
--- a/tools/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/tools/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@ version: "3"
 
 services:
   mysql:
-    container_name: zuul-test-mysql
-    image: mysql:8.0
+    container_name: zuul-test-mariadb
+    # Roughly matches version in Ubuntu Noble
+    image: mariadb:10.11
     environment:
       - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=insecure_worker
     ports:
diff --git a/tools/test-setup-docker.sh b/tools/test-setup-docker.sh
index b3cef01b45..f457b1d266 100755
--- a/tools/test-setup-docker.sh
+++ b/tools/test-setup-docker.sh
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ else
 fi
 
 
-MYSQL="${DOCKER} exec zuul-test-mysql mysql  -u root -pinsecure_worker"
+MYSQL="${DOCKER} exec zuul-test-mariadb mysql  -u root -pinsecure_worker"
 
 if [ "${COMPOSE}" == "docker-compose" ]; then
   ${ROOTCMD} docker-compose rm -sf