diff --git a/.github/workflows/macos.yml b/.github/workflows/macos.yml
index 461a93a0..47ddc5fd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/macos.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/macos.yml
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ jobs:
         [[ "$MYSQL_VERSION" == "8.0" ]] && $(brew --prefix mysql@${{ matrix.mysql }})/bin/mysql -uroot < docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/caching_sha2_password_user.sql
         $(brew --prefix mysql@${{ matrix.mysql }})/bin/mysql -uroot < docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/native_password_user.sql
         $(brew --prefix mysql@${{ matrix.mysql }})/bin/mysql -uroot < docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/x509_user.sql
+        $(brew --prefix mysql@${{ matrix.mysql }})/bin/mysql -uroot < docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/cleartext_user.sql
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: |
         cd contrib/ruby
diff --git a/contrib/ruby/ext/trilogy-ruby/cext.c b/contrib/ruby/ext/trilogy-ruby/cext.c
index b7e88dff..69f84511 100644
--- a/contrib/ruby/ext/trilogy-ruby/cext.c
+++ b/contrib/ruby/ext/trilogy-ruby/cext.c
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@
 VALUE Trilogy_CastError;
 static VALUE Trilogy_BaseConnectionError, Trilogy_ProtocolError, Trilogy_SSLError, Trilogy_QueryError,
     Trilogy_ConnectionClosedError,
-    Trilogy_TimeoutError, Trilogy_SyscallError, Trilogy_Result, Trilogy_EOFError;
+    Trilogy_TimeoutError, Trilogy_SyscallError, Trilogy_Result, Trilogy_EOFError, Trilogy_AuthPluginError;
 
 static ID id_socket, id_host, id_port, id_username, id_password, id_found_rows, id_connect_timeout, id_read_timeout,
     id_write_timeout, id_keepalive_enabled, id_keepalive_idle, id_keepalive_interval, id_keepalive_count,
     id_ivar_affected_rows, id_ivar_fields, id_ivar_last_insert_id, id_ivar_rows, id_ivar_query_time, id_password,
-    id_database, id_ssl_ca, id_ssl_capath, id_ssl_cert, id_ssl_cipher, id_ssl_crl, id_ssl_crlpath, id_ssl_key,
+    id_database, id_enable_cleartext_plugin, id_ssl_ca, id_ssl_capath, id_ssl_cert, id_ssl_cipher, id_ssl_crl, id_ssl_crlpath, id_ssl_key,
     id_ssl_mode, id_tls_ciphersuites, id_tls_min_version, id_tls_max_version, id_multi_statement, id_multi_result,
     id_from_code, id_from_errno, id_connection_options, id_max_allowed_packet;
 
@@ -156,6 +156,10 @@ static void handle_trilogy_error(struct trilogy_ctx *ctx, int rc, const char *ms
         rb_raise(Trilogy_EOFError, "%" PRIsVALUE ": TRILOGY_CLOSED_CONNECTION", rbmsg);
     }
 
+    case TRILOGY_AUTH_PLUGIN_ERROR: {
+        rb_raise(Trilogy_AuthPluginError, "%" PRIsVALUE ": TRILOGY_AUTH_PLUGIN_ERROR", rbmsg);
+    }
+
     case TRILOGY_UNSUPPORTED: {
         rb_raise(Trilogy_BaseConnectionError, "%" PRIsVALUE ": TRILOGY_UNSUPPORTED", rbmsg);
     }
@@ -531,6 +535,10 @@ static VALUE rb_trilogy_connect(VALUE self, VALUE encoding, VALUE charset, VALUE
         connopt.flags |= TRILOGY_CAPABILITIES_CONNECT_WITH_DB;
     }
 
+    if (RTEST(rb_hash_aref(opts, ID2SYM(id_enable_cleartext_plugin)))) {
+        connopt.enable_cleartext_plugin = true;
+    }
+
     if (RTEST(rb_hash_aref(opts, ID2SYM(id_found_rows)))) {
         connopt.flags |= TRILOGY_CAPABILITIES_FOUND_ROWS;
     }
@@ -1202,6 +1210,9 @@ RUBY_FUNC_EXPORTED void Init_cext(void)
     Trilogy_EOFError = rb_const_get(Trilogy, rb_intern("EOFError"));
     rb_global_variable(&Trilogy_EOFError);
 
+    rb_global_variable(&Trilogy_AuthPluginError);
+    Trilogy_AuthPluginError = rb_const_get(Trilogy, rb_intern("AuthPluginError"));
+
     id_socket = rb_intern("socket");
     id_host = rb_intern("host");
     id_port = rb_intern("port");
@@ -1217,6 +1228,7 @@ RUBY_FUNC_EXPORTED void Init_cext(void)
     id_keepalive_count = rb_intern("keepalive_count");
     id_keepalive_interval = rb_intern("keepalive_interval");
     id_database = rb_intern("database");
+    id_enable_cleartext_plugin = rb_intern("enable_cleartext_plugin");
     id_ssl_ca = rb_intern("ssl_ca");
     id_ssl_capath = rb_intern("ssl_capath");
     id_ssl_cert = rb_intern("ssl_cert");
diff --git a/contrib/ruby/lib/trilogy/error.rb b/contrib/ruby/lib/trilogy/error.rb
index 614d2d40..880c3a97 100644
--- a/contrib/ruby/lib/trilogy/error.rb
+++ b/contrib/ruby/lib/trilogy/error.rb
@@ -115,4 +115,9 @@ class ConnectionClosed < IOError
   # attempted on a socket which previously encountered an error.
   class EOFError < BaseConnectionError
   end
+
+  # Occurs when the server request an auth switch to an incompatible
+  # authentication plugin
+  class AuthPluginError < Trilogy::BaseConnectionError
+  end
 end
diff --git a/contrib/ruby/test/auth_test.rb b/contrib/ruby/test/auth_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..24f677e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/ruby/test/auth_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+require "test_helper"
+
+class AuthTest < TrilogyTest
+  def test_cleartext_auth_plugin
+    client = new_tcp_client username: "cleartext_user", password: "password", enable_cleartext_plugin: true
+    refute_nil client
+  ensure
+    ensure_closed client
+  end
+
+  def test_cleartext_auth_plugin_disabled
+    assert_raises Trilogy::AuthPluginError do
+      new_tcp_client username: "cleartext_user", password: "password"
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 96dd91a3..48502c34 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - "db-data:/var/lib/mysql"
       - ./docker-entrypoint-initdb.d:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d
+      - ./test/auth_plugins/${MYSQL_VERSION}/auth_test_plugin.so:/usr/lib/mysql/plugin/auth_test_plugin.so
   app:
     image: ghcr.io/trilogy-libraries/trilogy/ci-app:distro-${DISTRIBUTION_SLUG}-ruby-${RUBY_VERSION}-mysql-${MYSQL_VERSION}
     privileged: true
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ services:
       args:
         - DISTRIBUTION=${DISTRIBUTION}
         - RUBY_VERSION=${RUBY_VERSION}
-      cache_from: 
+      cache_from:
         - ghcr.io/trilogy-libraries/trilogy/ci-app:distro-${DISTRIBUTION_SLUG}-ruby-${RUBY_VERSION}-mysql-${MYSQL_VERSION}
     environment:
       MYSQL_HOST: db.local
diff --git a/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/cleartext_user.sql b/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/cleartext_user.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..797e0ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/cleartext_user.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+INSTALL PLUGIN cleartext_plugin_server SONAME 'auth_test_plugin.so';
+CREATE USER 'cleartext_user'@'%';
+GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON test.* TO 'cleartext_user'@'%';
+ALTER USER 'cleartext_user'@'%' IDENTIFIED WITH cleartext_plugin_server BY 'password';
diff --git a/inc/trilogy/error.h b/inc/trilogy/error.h
index 225c9b39..dd0be72e 100644
--- a/inc/trilogy/error.h
+++ b/inc/trilogy/error.h
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@
     XX(TRILOGY_AUTH_SWITCH, -19)                                                                                       \
     XX(TRILOGY_MAX_PACKET_EXCEEDED, -20)                                                                               \
     XX(TRILOGY_UNKNOWN_TYPE, -21)                                                                                      \
-    XX(TRILOGY_TIMEOUT, -22)
+    XX(TRILOGY_TIMEOUT, -22)                                                                                           \
+    XX(TRILOGY_AUTH_PLUGIN_ERROR, -23)
 
 enum {
 #define XX(name, code) name = code,
diff --git a/inc/trilogy/protocol.h b/inc/trilogy/protocol.h
index 5b66af87..a0d7e900 100644
--- a/inc/trilogy/protocol.h
+++ b/inc/trilogy/protocol.h
@@ -443,14 +443,16 @@ int trilogy_build_auth_packet(trilogy_builder_t *builder, const char *user, cons
  * pass_len    - The length of password in bytes.
  * auth_plugin - Plugin authentication mechanism that the server requested.
  * scramble    - The scramble value received from the server.
+ * enable_cleartext_plugin - Send cleartext password if requested by server.
  *
  * Return values:
  *   TRILOGY_OK     - The packet was successfully built and written to the
  *                    builder's internal buffer.
  *   TRILOGY_SYSERR - A system error occurred, check errno.
+ *   TRILOGY_AUTH_PLUGIN_ERROR - The server requested auth plugin is not supported.
  */
 int trilogy_build_auth_switch_response_packet(trilogy_builder_t *builder, const char *pass, size_t pass_len,
-                                              const char *auth_plugin, const char *scramble);
+                                              const char *auth_plugin, const char *scramble, const bool enable_cleartext_plugin);
 
 /* trilogy_build_change_db_packet - Build a change database command packet. This
  * command will change the default database for the connection.
diff --git a/inc/trilogy/socket.h b/inc/trilogy/socket.h
index 010deb1f..6de19476 100644
--- a/inc/trilogy/socket.h
+++ b/inc/trilogy/socket.h
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ typedef struct {
     uint16_t keepalive_count;
     uint16_t keepalive_interval;
 
+    bool enable_cleartext_plugin;
+
     TRILOGY_CAPABILITIES_t flags;
 
     size_t max_allowed_packet;
diff --git a/script/cibuild b/script/cibuild
index cebe327f..b56598c6 100755
--- a/script/cibuild
+++ b/script/cibuild
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ output_fold() {
 
   # Only echo the tags when in CI_MODE
   if [ "$CI_MODE" ]; then
-    echo "::group::{$label}"
+    echo "::group::${label}"
   fi
 
   # run the remaining arguments. If the command exits non-0, the `||` will
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ output_fold() {
 
 function cleanup() {
   echo
-  echo "::group::{Shutting down services...}"
+  echo "::group::Shutting down services..."
   docker compose down -v
   echo "::endgroup::"
 }
diff --git a/src/client.c b/src/client.c
index db2fe2aa..53680620 100644
--- a/src/client.c
+++ b/src/client.c
@@ -248,8 +248,9 @@ static int read_auth_switch_packet(trilogy_conn_t *conn, trilogy_handshake_t *ha
     }
 
     if (strcmp("mysql_native_password", auth_switch_packet.auth_plugin) &&
-        strcmp("caching_sha2_password", auth_switch_packet.auth_plugin)) {
-        // Only support native password & caching sha2 password here.
+        strcmp("caching_sha2_password", auth_switch_packet.auth_plugin) &&
+        strcmp("mysql_clear_password", auth_switch_packet.auth_plugin)) {
+        // Only support native password, caching sha2 and cleartext password here.
         return TRILOGY_PROTOCOL_VIOLATION;
     }
 
@@ -391,7 +392,7 @@ int trilogy_auth_switch_send(trilogy_conn_t *conn, const trilogy_handshake_t *ha
 
     rc = trilogy_build_auth_switch_response_packet(&builder, conn->socket->opts.password,
                                                    conn->socket->opts.password_len, handshake->auth_plugin,
-                                                   handshake->scramble);
+                                                   handshake->scramble, conn->socket->opts.enable_cleartext_plugin);
 
     if (rc < 0) {
         return rc;
diff --git a/src/protocol.c b/src/protocol.c
index 49fe5c64..69900798 100644
--- a/src/protocol.c
+++ b/src/protocol.c
@@ -609,21 +609,32 @@ int trilogy_build_auth_clear_password(trilogy_builder_t *builder, const char *pa
 }
 
 int trilogy_build_auth_switch_response_packet(trilogy_builder_t *builder, const char *pass, size_t pass_len,
-                                              const char *auth_plugin, const char *scramble)
+                                              const char *auth_plugin, const char *scramble, const bool enable_cleartext_plugin)
 {
     int rc = TRILOGY_OK;
     unsigned int auth_response_len = 0;
     uint8_t auth_response[EVP_MAX_MD_SIZE];
 
     if (pass_len > 0) {
-        if (!strcmp("caching_sha2_password", auth_plugin)) {
-            trilogy_pack_scramble_sha2_hash(scramble, pass, pass_len, auth_response, &auth_response_len);
+        if (!strcmp("mysql_clear_password", auth_plugin)) {
+            if (enable_cleartext_plugin) {
+                CHECKED(trilogy_builder_write_buffer(builder, pass, pass_len));
+            } else {
+                return TRILOGY_AUTH_PLUGIN_ERROR;
+            }
         } else {
-            trilogy_pack_scramble_native_hash(scramble, pass, pass_len, auth_response, &auth_response_len);
+            if (!strcmp("caching_sha2_password", auth_plugin)) {
+                trilogy_pack_scramble_sha2_hash(scramble, pass, pass_len, auth_response, &auth_response_len);
+            } else if (!strcmp("mysql_native_password", auth_plugin)) {
+                trilogy_pack_scramble_native_hash(scramble, pass, pass_len, auth_response, &auth_response_len);
+            } else {
+                return TRILOGY_AUTH_PLUGIN_ERROR;
+            }
+
+            CHECKED(trilogy_builder_write_buffer(builder, auth_response, auth_response_len));
         }
     }
 
-    CHECKED(trilogy_builder_write_buffer(builder, auth_response, auth_response_len));
     trilogy_builder_finalize(builder);
 
     return TRILOGY_OK;
diff --git a/test/auth_plugins/5.7/auth_test_plugin.so b/test/auth_plugins/5.7/auth_test_plugin.so
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..fc4fc1f1
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/auth_plugins/5.7/auth_test_plugin.so differ
diff --git a/test/auth_plugins/8/auth_test_plugin.so b/test/auth_plugins/8/auth_test_plugin.so
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5b990734
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/auth_plugins/8/auth_test_plugin.so differ