diff --git a/packages/pg-protocol/src/outbound-serializer.test.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/outbound-serializer.test.ts
index 4d2457e19..06f20cf9c 100644
--- a/packages/pg-protocol/src/outbound-serializer.test.ts
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/outbound-serializer.test.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ describe('serializer', () => {
         .addCString('database')
         .addCString('bang')
         .addCString('client_encoding')
-        .addCString("'utf-8'")
+        .addCString('UTF8')
         .addCString('')
         .join(true)
     )
diff --git a/packages/pg-protocol/src/serializer.ts b/packages/pg-protocol/src/serializer.ts
index 00e43fffe..bff2fd332 100644
--- a/packages/pg-protocol/src/serializer.ts
+++ b/packages/pg-protocol/src/serializer.ts
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const startup = (opts: Record<string, string>): Buffer => {
     writer.addCString(key).addCString(opts[key])
   }
 
-  writer.addCString('client_encoding').addCString("'utf-8'")
+  writer.addCString('client_encoding').addCString('UTF8')
 
   var bodyBuffer = writer.addCString('').flush()
   // this message is sent without a code