diff --git a/backend/src/apiserver/client/sql.go b/backend/src/apiserver/client/sql.go
index a7a93bce7bf0..b973d8dc8db9 100644
--- a/backend/src/apiserver/client/sql.go
+++ b/backend/src/apiserver/client/sql.go
@@ -21,18 +21,25 @@ import (
 )
 
 func CreateMySQLConfig(user, password string, mysqlServiceHost string,
-		mysqlServicePort string, dbName string, mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen string) *mysql.Config {
+	mysqlServicePort string, dbName string, mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen string, mysqlExtraParams map[string]string) *mysql.Config {
+
+	params := map[string]string{
+		"charset":              "utf8",
+		"parseTime":            "True",
+		"loc":                  "Local",
+		"group_concat_max_len": mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen,
+	}
+
+	for k, v := range mysqlExtraParams {
+		params[k] = v
+	}
+
 	return &mysql.Config{
 		User:                 user,
 		Passwd:               password,
 		Net:                  "tcp",
 		Addr:                 fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", mysqlServiceHost, mysqlServicePort),
-		Params:               map[string]string{
-									"charset": "utf8",
-									"parseTime": "True",
-									"loc": "Local",
-									"group_concat_max_len": mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen,
-								},
+		Params:               params,
 		DBName:               dbName,
 		AllowNativePasswords: true,
 	}
diff --git a/backend/src/apiserver/client/sql_test.go b/backend/src/apiserver/client/sql_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..81d19cc8b5d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/apiserver/client/sql_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+// Copyright 2018 Google LLC
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package client
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
+)
+
+func TestCreateMySQLConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	type args struct {
+		user                   string
+		password               string
+		host                   string
+		port                   string
+		dbName                 string
+		mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen string
+		mysqlExtraParams       map[string]string
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		args args
+		want *mysql.Config
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "default config",
+			args: args{
+				user:                   "root",
+				host:                   "mysql",
+				port:                   "3306",
+				mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen: "1024",
+				mysqlExtraParams:       nil,
+			},
+			want: &mysql.Config{
+				User:                 "root",
+				Net:                  "tcp",
+				Addr:                 "mysql:3306",
+				Params:               map[string]string{"charset": "utf8", "parseTime": "True", "loc": "Local", "group_concat_max_len": "1024"},
+				AllowNativePasswords: true,
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "extra parameters",
+			args: args{
+				user:                   "root",
+				host:                   "mysql",
+				port:                   "3306",
+				mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen: "1024",
+				mysqlExtraParams:       map[string]string{"tls": "true"},
+			},
+			want: &mysql.Config{
+				User:                 "root",
+				Net:                  "tcp",
+				Addr:                 "mysql:3306",
+				Params:               map[string]string{"charset": "utf8", "parseTime": "True", "loc": "Local", "group_concat_max_len": "1024", "tls": "true"},
+				AllowNativePasswords: true,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := CreateMySQLConfig(tt.args.user, tt.args.password, tt.args.host, tt.args.port, tt.args.dbName, tt.args.mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen, tt.args.mysqlExtraParams); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, tt.want) {
+				t.Errorf("CreateMySQLConfig() = %#v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/src/apiserver/client_manager.go b/backend/src/apiserver/client_manager.go
index 14f72ce85b88..81f414b0bbaf 100644
--- a/backend/src/apiserver/client_manager.go
+++ b/backend/src/apiserver/client_manager.go
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ const (
 	mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen = "DBConfig.GroupConcatMaxLen"
 	kfamServiceHost        = "PROFILES_KFAM_SERVICE_HOST"
 	kfamServicePort        = "PROFILES_KFAM_SERVICE_PORT"
+	mysqlExtraParams       = "DBConfig.ExtraParams"
 
 	visualizationServiceHost = "ML_PIPELINE_VISUALIZATIONSERVER_SERVICE_HOST"
 	visualizationServicePort = "ML_PIPELINE_VISUALIZATIONSERVER_SERVICE_PORT"
@@ -263,6 +264,7 @@ func initMysql(driverName string, initConnectionTimeout time.Duration) string {
 		common.GetStringConfigWithDefault(mysqlServicePort, "3306"),
 		"",
 		common.GetStringConfigWithDefault(mysqlGroupConcatMaxLen, "1024"),
+		common.GetMapConfig(mysqlExtraParams),
 	)
 
 	var db *sql.DB
diff --git a/backend/src/apiserver/common/config.go b/backend/src/apiserver/common/config.go
index 05bced88c862..5e7b79d259b4 100644
--- a/backend/src/apiserver/common/config.go
+++ b/backend/src/apiserver/common/config.go
@@ -40,6 +40,14 @@ func GetStringConfigWithDefault(configName, value string) string {
 	return viper.GetString(configName)
 }
 
+func GetMapConfig(configName string) map[string]string {
+	if !viper.IsSet(configName) {
+		glog.Infof("Config %s not specified, skipping", configName)
+		return nil
+	}
+	return viper.GetStringMapString(configName)
+}
+
 func GetBoolConfigWithDefault(configName string, value bool) bool {
 	if !viper.IsSet(configName) {
 		return value