diff --git a/ansible/roles/intersect_docker/files/synapse/docker-compose.yml b/ansible/roles/intersect_docker/files/synapse/docker-compose.yml
index b4efe1c..cf3c886 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/intersect_docker/files/synapse/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/intersect_docker/files/synapse/docker-compose.yml
@@ -29,5 +29,6 @@ services:
     environment:
       - POSTGRES_USER=synapse
       - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=synapse
+      - POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS=--encoding=UTF-8 --lc-collate=C --lc-ctype=C
     volumes:
       - /mnt/tank/dbs/postgres/synapse:/var/lib/postgresql/data