diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 080e2a23..848f2915 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
       mysql:
         image: mysql:5.7
         env:
-          MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root
+          MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: root#
         ports:
           - 3307:3306
         # needed because the mysql container does not provide a healthcheck
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
         image: postgres:10
         env:
           POSTGRES_USER: postgres
-          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
+          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres#
           POSTGRES_DB: postgres
         ports:
           - 5433:5432
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build and run soda
         env:
           SODA_DIALECT: "postgres"
-          POSTGRESQL_URL: "postgres://postgres:postgres@127.0.0.1:${{ job.services.postgres.ports[5432] }}/pop_test?sslmode=disable"
+          POSTGRESQL_URL: "postgres://postgres:postgres%23@127.0.0.1:${{ job.services.postgres.ports[5432] }}/pop_test?sslmode=disable"
         run: |
           go build -v -tags sqlite -o tsoda ./soda
           ./tsoda drop -e $SODA_DIALECT -p ./testdata/migrations
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Test
         env:
           SODA_DIALECT: "postgres"
-          POSTGRESQL_URL: "postgres://postgres:postgres@127.0.0.1:${{ job.services.postgres.ports[5432] }}/pop_test?sslmode=disable"
+          POSTGRESQL_URL: "postgres://postgres:postgres%23@127.0.0.1:${{ job.services.postgres.ports[5432] }}/pop_test?sslmode=disable"
         run: |
           go test -tags sqlite -race -cover ./...
 
diff --git a/database.yml b/database.yml
index 196359bf..d8c1567e 100644
--- a/database.yml
+++ b/database.yml
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@ mysql:
   host: {{ envOr "MYSQL_HOST" "127.0.0.1"  }}
   port: {{ envOr "MYSQL_PORT" "3306"  }}
   user: {{ envOr "MYSQL_USER"  "root"  }}
-  password: {{ envOr "MYSQL_PASSWORD"  "root"  }}
+  password: {{ envOr "MYSQL_PASSWORD"  "root#"  }}
   options:
     readTimeout: 5s
 
 postgres:
-  url: {{ envOr "POSTGRESQL_URL" "postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5433/pop_test?sslmode=disable" }}
+  url: {{ envOr "POSTGRESQL_URL" "postgres://postgres:postgres%23@localhost:5433/pop_test?sslmode=disable" }}
   pool: 25
 
 cockroach:
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 0a9725fd..033c35af 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ services:
   mysql:
     image: mysql:5.7
     environment:
-      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root
+      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root#
       - MYSQL_DATABASE=pop_test
       - MYSQL_USER=pop
-      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=pop
+      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=pop#
     ports:
       - "3307:3306"
     healthcheck:
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       - POSTGRES_DB=pop_test
       - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
-      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
+      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres#
       - POSTGRES_DB=postgres
     ports:
       - "5433:5432"