diff --git a/bitnami/phpmyadmin/4/docker-compose.yml b/bitnami/phpmyadmin/4/docker-compose.yml
index 237fa24f80dc..577170256734 100644
--- a/bitnami/phpmyadmin/4/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/bitnami/phpmyadmin/4/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ version: '2'
 services:
   mariadb:
     image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - 'mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb'
   phpmyadmin:
diff --git a/bitnami/phpmyadmin/README.md b/bitnami/phpmyadmin/README.md
index 9ad290263820..5fa32b5481d7 100644
--- a/bitnami/phpmyadmin/README.md
+++ b/bitnami/phpmyadmin/README.md
@@ -24,7 +24,11 @@ version: '2'
 
 services:
   mariadb:
-    image: bitnami/mariadb:latest
+    image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb
   phpmyadmin:
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ $ docker network create phpmyadmin-tier
 
 ```bash
 $ docker volume create --name mariadb_data
-$ docker run -d --name mariadb \
+$ docker run -d --name mariadb -e ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes \
   --net phpmyadmin-tier \
   --volume mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb \
   bitnami/mariadb:latest
@@ -107,7 +111,11 @@ version: '2'
 
 services:
   mariadb:
-    image: bitnami/mariadb:latest
+    image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - /path/to/mariadb-persistence:/bitnami/mariadb
   phpmyadmin:
@@ -134,7 +142,7 @@ $ docker network create phpmyadmin-tier
 2. Create a MariaDB container with host volume
 
 ```bash
-$ docker run -d --name mariadb \
+$ docker run -d --name mariadb -e ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes \
   --net phpmyadmin-tier \
   --volume /path/to/mariadb-persistence:/bitnami/mariadb \
   bitnami/mariadb:latest
@@ -231,7 +239,11 @@ version: '2'
 
 services:
   mariadb:
-    image: bitnami/mariadb:latest
+    image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb
   phpmyadmin:
diff --git a/bitnami/phpmyadmin/docker-compose.yml b/bitnami/phpmyadmin/docker-compose.yml
index c713ab6a372f..8b9b8f8bc321 100644
--- a/bitnami/phpmyadmin/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/bitnami/phpmyadmin/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ version: '2'
 services:
   mariadb:
     image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - 'mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb'
   phpmyadmin: