diff --git a/changelog.d/20231013_114747_fghaas_disable_mysql_binlog.md b/changelog.d/20231013_114747_fghaas_disable_mysql_binlog.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a2f4d06cd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/20231013_114747_fghaas_disable_mysql_binlog.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[Bugfix] Default to running MySQL 8 in a standalone configuration without [binary logging](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/binary-log.html), as we did in Tutor 15 with MySQL 5.7. If you do need binary logging because you are running [MySQL replication](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/replication.html), or you want to be able to do [point-in-time recovery using the binlog](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/point-in-time-recovery-binlog.html), set `MYSQL_ENABLE_BINLOG: true` in `config.yml`. (by @fghaas)
diff --git a/tutor/templates/config/defaults.yml b/tutor/templates/config/defaults.yml
index 94f127226e..fb82b5708c 100644
--- a/tutor/templates/config/defaults.yml
+++ b/tutor/templates/config/defaults.yml
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ OPENEDX_MYSQL_USERNAME: "openedx"
 OPENEDX_COMMON_VERSION: "open-release/palm.3"
 OPENEDX_EXTRA_PIP_REQUIREMENTS:
   - "openedx-scorm-xblock>=16.0.0,<17.0.0"
+MYSQL_ENABLE_BINLOG: false
 MYSQL_HOST: "mysql"
 MYSQL_PORT: 3306
 MYSQL_ROOT_USERNAME: "root"
diff --git a/tutor/templates/k8s/deployments.yml b/tutor/templates/k8s/deployments.yml
index ff833ad1ca..9a85e29f56 100644
--- a/tutor/templates/k8s/deployments.yml
+++ b/tutor/templates/k8s/deployments.yml
@@ -392,7 +392,11 @@ spec:
       containers:
         - name: mysql
           image: {{ DOCKER_IMAGE_MYSQL }}
-          args: ["mysqld", "--character-set-server=utf8mb3", "--collation-server=utf8mb3_general_ci"]
+          args:
+            - "mysqld"
+            - "--character-set-server=utf8mb3"
+            - "--collation-server=utf8mb3_general_ci"
+            {% if not MYSQL_ENABLE_BINLOG -%}- "--disable-log-bin" {%- endif %}
           env:
             - name: MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD
               value: "{{ MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD }}"
diff --git a/tutor/templates/local/docker-compose.yml b/tutor/templates/local/docker-compose.yml
index a2ace7c57b..2bef2f20fb 100644
--- a/tutor/templates/local/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/tutor/templates/local/docker-compose.yml
@@ -40,7 +40,11 @@ services:
   {% if RUN_MYSQL -%}
   mysql:
     image: {{ DOCKER_IMAGE_MYSQL }}
-    command: mysqld --character-set-server=utf8mb3 --collation-server=utf8mb3_general_ci
+    command: >
+      mysqld
+      --character-set-server=utf8mb3
+      --collation-server=utf8mb3_general_ci
+      {% if not MYSQL_ENABLE_BINLOG -%}--disable-log-bin{%- endif %}
     restart: unless-stopped
     user: "999:999"
     volumes: