diff --git a/scripts/ci/before_build_mysql.sh b/scripts/ci/before_build_mysql.sh
index 976b9df3..94645af3 100755
--- a/scripts/ci/before_build_mysql.sh
+++ b/scripts/ci/before_build_mysql.sh
@@ -6,28 +6,16 @@
 source ${SOCI_SOURCE_DIR}/scripts/ci/common.sh
 
 SOCI_MYSQL_USER=$(id -un)
-SOCI_MYSQL_PASS='mypass'
 
 if [ -n "${SOCI_MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}" ]; then
     sudo systemctl start mysql.service
     SOCI_MYSQL_PASSWORD_OPT="-p${SOCI_MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD}"
-    mysql -u root ${SOCI_MYSQL_PASSWORD_OPT} -e "CREATE USER '${SOCI_MYSQL_USER}' IDENTIFIED BY '${SOCI_MYSQL_PASS}';"
-    if [ ! -f $HOME/.my.cnf ]; then
-        cat > $HOME/.my.cnf <<EOF
-[mysql]
-user=${SOCI_MYSQL_USER}
-password=${SOCI_MYSQL_PASS}
-EOF
-        echo Created $HOME/.my.cnf file with password for "${SOCI_MYSQL_USER}":
-    else
-        echo Using existing $HOME/.my.cnf file:
-    fi
-    echo '---------------------------------- >8 --------------------------------------'
-    cat $HOME/.my.cnf | tr 'A-Za-z' 'N-ZA-Mn-za-m'
-    echo '---------------------------------- >8 --------------------------------------'
-    echo '(using ROT-13 to ensure the password is not stripped from the output)'
+    mysql -u root ${SOCI_MYSQL_PASSWORD_OPT} -e "CREATE USER '${SOCI_MYSQL_USER}';"
 fi
 
 mysql --version
 mysql -u root ${SOCI_MYSQL_PASSWORD_OPT} -e "CREATE DATABASE soci_test;"
 mysql -u root ${SOCI_MYSQL_PASSWORD_OPT} -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON soci_test.* TO '${SOCI_MYSQL_USER}'@'%';";
+
+echo 'Testing connection to the database:'
+echo 'SELECT USER();' | mysql --database=soci_test