diff --git a/Classes/Sitegeist/MagicWand/Command/AbstractCommandController.php b/Classes/Sitegeist/MagicWand/Command/AbstractCommandController.php
index 374d050..f20ae5a 100644
--- a/Classes/Sitegeist/MagicWand/Command/AbstractCommandController.php
+++ b/Classes/Sitegeist/MagicWand/Command/AbstractCommandController.php
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ protected function executeLocalShellCommand($command, $arguments = [], $options
             $this->outputLine($customizedCommand);
         }
         $customizedCommandResult = shell_exec($customizedCommand);
-        if (!in_array(self::HIDE_RESULT, $options)) {
+        if (is_string($customizedCommandResult) && !in_array(self::HIDE_RESULT, $options)) {
             $this->outputLine($customizedCommandResult);
         }
         return $customizedCommandResult;
diff --git a/Classes/Sitegeist/MagicWand/Command/CloneCommandController.php b/Classes/Sitegeist/MagicWand/Command/CloneCommandController.php
index c7a17b0..b37591a 100644
--- a/Classes/Sitegeist/MagicWand/Command/CloneCommandController.php
+++ b/Classes/Sitegeist/MagicWand/Command/CloneCommandController.php
@@ -305,6 +305,14 @@ public function remoteHostCommand(
         $this->outputHeadLine('Clear Caches');
         $this->executeLocalFlowCommand('flow:cache:flush');
 
+        ##################
+        # Set DB charset #
+        ##################
+        if ($this->databaseConfiguration['driver'] == 'pdo_mysql' && $remotePersistenceConfiguration['charset'] != 'utf8mb4') {
+            $this->outputHeadLine('Set DB charset');
+            $this->executeLocalFlowCommand('database:setcharset');
+        }
+
         ##############
         # Migrate DB #
         ##############
@@ -358,7 +366,9 @@ protected function checkConfiguration($remotePersistenceConfiguration)
             $this->outputLine(' only mysql is supported');
             $this->quit(1);
         }
-        if ($remotePersistenceConfiguration['charset'] != $this->databaseConfiguration['charset']) {
+        if (in_array($remotePersistenceConfiguration['charset'], ['utf8','utf8mb4']) && in_array($this->databaseConfiguration['charset'], ['utf8','utf8mb4'])) {
+            // we accept utf8 and utf8mb4 beeing similar enough
+        } else if ($remotePersistenceConfiguration['charset'] != $this->databaseConfiguration['charset']) {
             $this->outputLine(' the databases have to use the same charset');
             $this->quit(1);
         }