diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4302864c2..cb315e8ff 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ As such, a _Feature_ would map to either major or minor. A _bug fix_ to a patch.
   * Performance
   * Misc
 
+### [3.4.4 / 2015-02-26](v3.4.4...v3.4.5)
+* Fixes
+   * [@rikettsie Fixed collation for MySql](https://github.com/mbleigh/acts-as-taggable-on/pull/634)
+
 ### [3.4.4 / 2015-02-11](https://github.com/mbleigh/acts-as-taggable-on/compare/v3.4.3...v3.4.4)
 
   * Fixes
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index c0a52c86c..2e4f2ec78 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ group :local_development do
   gem 'appraisal'
   gem 'rake'
   gem 'byebug' , platform: :mri_21
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 005b88900..9c26aab55 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,6 +57,22 @@ Review the generated migrations then migrate :
 rake db:migrate
 ```
 
+#### For MySql users
+You can circumvent at any time the problem of special characters [issue 623](https://github.com/mbleigh/acts-as-taggable-on/issues/623) by setting in an initializer file:
+
+```ruby
+ActsAsTaggableOn.force_binary_collation = true
+```
+
+Or by running this rake task:
+
+```shell
+rake acts_as_taggable_on_engine:tag_names:collate_bin
+```
+
+See the Configuration section for more details, and a general note valid for older
+version of the gem.
+
 #### Upgrading
 
 see [UPGRADING](UPGRADING.md)
@@ -407,13 +423,28 @@ If you would like tags to be case-sensitive and not use LIKE queries for creatio
 ActsAsTaggableOn.strict_case_match = true
 ```
 
+If you would like to have an exact match covering special characters with MySql:
+
+```ruby
+ActsAsTaggableOn.force_binary_collation = true
+```
+
 If you want to change the default delimiter (it defaults to ','). You can also pass in an array of delimiters such as ([',', '|']):
 
 ```ruby
 ActsAsTaggableOn.delimiter = ','
 ```
 
-*NOTE: SQLite by default can't upcase or downcase multibyte characters, resulting in unwanted behavior. Load the SQLite ICU extension for proper handle of such characters. [See docs](http://www.sqlite.org/src/artifact?ci=trunk&filename=ext/icu/README.txt)*
+*NOTE 1: SQLite by default can't upcase or downcase multibyte characters, resulting in unwanted behavior. Load the SQLite ICU extension for proper handle of such characters. [See docs](http://www.sqlite.org/src/artifact?ci=trunk&filename=ext/icu/README.txt)*
+
+*NOTE 2: the option `force_binary_collation` is strongest than `strict_case_match` and when
+set to true, the `strict_case_match` is ignored.
+To roughly apply the `force_binary_collation` behaviour with a version of the gem <= 3.4.4, execute the following commands in the MySql console:*
+
+```shell
+USE my_wonderful_app_db;
+ALTER TABLE tags MODIFY name VARCHAR(255) CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_bin;
+```
 
 ## Contributors
 
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 9e58213f4..f9902ffc6 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 require 'rubygems'
 require 'bundler/setup'
 
+import "./lib/tasks/tags_collate_utf8.rake"
+
 desc 'Default: run specs'
 task default: :spec
 
diff --git a/lib/acts-as-taggable-on.rb b/lib/acts-as-taggable-on.rb
index 3b5b095cf..c5e34d416 100644
--- a/lib/acts-as-taggable-on.rb
+++ b/lib/acts-as-taggable-on.rb
@@ -69,6 +69,13 @@ def initialize
       @remove_unused_tags = false
       @tags_counter = true
       @default_parser = DefaultParser
+      @force_binary_collation = false
+    end
+
+    def strict_case_match=(force_cs)
+      if @force_binary_collation == false
+        @strict_case_match = force_cs
+      end
     end
 
     def delimiter=(string)
@@ -79,6 +86,30 @@ def delimiter=(string)
 WARNING
       @delimiter = string
     end
+
+    def force_binary_collation=(force_bin)
+      if Utils.using_mysql?
+        if force_bin == true
+          Configuration.apply_binary_collation(true)
+          @force_binary_collation = true
+          @strict_case_match = true
+        else
+          Configuration.apply_binary_collation(false)
+          @force_binary_collation = false
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    def self.apply_binary_collation(bincoll)
+      if Utils.using_mysql?
+        coll = 'utf8_general_ci'
+        if bincoll == true
+          coll = 'utf8_bin'
+        end
+        ActiveRecord::Migration.execute("ALTER TABLE tags MODIFY name varchar(255) CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE #{coll};")
+      end
+    end
+
   end
 
   setup
diff --git a/lib/tasks/tags_collate_utf8.rake b/lib/tasks/tags_collate_utf8.rake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..70730c442
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tasks/tags_collate_utf8.rake
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# These rake tasks are to be run by MySql users only, they fix the management of
+# binary-encoded strings for tag 'names'. Issues:
+# https://github.com/mbleigh/acts-as-taggable-on/issues/623
+
+namespace :acts_as_taggable_on_engine do
+
+  namespace :tag_names do
+
+    desc "Forcing collate of tag names to utf8_bin"
+    task :collate_bin => [:environment] do |t, args|
+      ActsAsTaggableOn::Configuration.apply_binary_collation(true)
+    end
+
+    desc "Forcing collate of tag names to utf8_general_ci"
+    task :collate_ci => [:environment] do |t, args|
+      ActsAsTaggableOn::Configuration.apply_binary_collation(false)
+    end
+
+  end
+
+end
diff --git a/spec/acts_as_taggable_on/tag_spec.rb b/spec/acts_as_taggable_on/tag_spec.rb
index c2684f6bf..48eb1a3f5 100644
--- a/spec/acts_as_taggable_on/tag_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acts_as_taggable_on/tag_spec.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 require 'db/migrate/2_add_missing_unique_indices.rb'
 
+
 shared_examples_for 'without unique index' do
-  prepend_before(:all) { AddMissingUniqueIndices.down }
+  prepend_before(:all) do
+    AddMissingUniqueIndices.down
+  end
   append_after(:all) do
     ActsAsTaggableOn::Tag.delete_all
     AddMissingUniqueIndices.up
@@ -309,7 +312,7 @@
         tag.save!
       end
     end
-    
+
     it 'should find the most popular tags' do
       expect(ActsAsTaggableOn::Tag.most_used(3).first.name).to eq("golden_syrup")
       expect(ActsAsTaggableOn::Tag.most_used(3).length).to eq(3)
@@ -320,4 +323,5 @@
       expect(ActsAsTaggableOn::Tag.least_used(3).length).to eq(3)
     end
   end
+
 end