diff --git a/features/utils.feature b/features/utils.feature
index aac2114dca..921e9d4bc0 100644
--- a/features/utils.feature
+++ b/features/utils.feature
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Feature: Utilities that do NOT depend on WordPress code
 
   @require-mysql
   Scenario: Check that `Utils\run_mysql_command()` uses STDOUT and STDERR by default
-    When I run `wp --skip-wordpress eval 'WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command( "/usr/bin/env mysql --no-defaults", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}", "execute" => "SHOW DATABASES;" ] );'`
+    When I run `wp --skip-wordpress eval 'WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command( "{MYSQL_BINARY} --no-defaults", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}", "execute" => "SHOW DATABASES;" ] );'`
     Then STDOUT should contain:
       """
       Database
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Feature: Utilities that do NOT depend on WordPress code
       """
     And STDERR should be empty
 
-    When I try `wp --skip-wordpress eval 'WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command( "/usr/bin/env mysql --no-defaults", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}", "execute" => "broken query" ]);'`
+    When I try `wp --skip-wordpress eval 'WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command( "{MYSQL_BINARY} --no-defaults", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}", "execute" => "broken query" ]);'`
     Then STDOUT should be empty
     And STDERR should contain:
       """
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ Feature: Utilities that do NOT depend on WordPress code
 
   @require-mysql
   Scenario: Check that `Utils\run_mysql_command()` can return data and errors if requested
-    When I run `wp --skip-wordpress eval 'list( $stdout, $stderr, $exit_code ) = WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command( "/usr/bin/env mysql --no-defaults", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}", "execute" => "SHOW DATABASES;" ], null, false ); fwrite( STDOUT, strtoupper( $stdout ) ); fwrite( STDERR, strtoupper( $stderr ) );'`
+    When I run `wp --skip-wordpress eval 'list( $stdout, $stderr, $exit_code ) = WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command( "{MYSQL_BINARY} --no-defaults", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}", "execute" => "SHOW DATABASES;" ], null, false ); fwrite( STDOUT, strtoupper( $stdout ) ); fwrite( STDERR, strtoupper( $stderr ) );'`
     Then STDOUT should not contain:
       """
       Database
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ Feature: Utilities that do NOT depend on WordPress code
       """
     And STDERR should be empty
 
-    When I try `wp --skip-wordpress eval 'list( $stdout, $stderr, $exit_code ) = WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command( "/usr/bin/env mysql --no-defaults", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}", "execute" => "broken query" ], null, false ); fwrite( STDOUT, strtoupper( $stdout ) ); fwrite( STDERR, strtoupper( $stderr ) );'`
+    When I try `wp --skip-wordpress eval 'list( $stdout, $stderr, $exit_code ) = WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command( "{MYSQL_BINARY} --no-defaults", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}", "execute" => "broken query" ], null, false ); fwrite( STDOUT, strtoupper( $stdout ) ); fwrite( STDERR, strtoupper( $stderr ) );'`
     Then STDOUT should be empty
     And STDERR should not contain:
       """
@@ -149,19 +149,19 @@ Feature: Utilities that do NOT depend on WordPress code
       """
     And save STDOUT as {DB_HOST_STRING}
 
-    When I try `mysql --database={DB_NAME} --user={DB_ROOT_USER} --password={DB_ROOT_PASSWORD} {DB_HOST_STRING} -e "SET GLOBAL max_allowed_packet=64*1024*1024;"`
+    When I try `{MYSQL_BINARY} --database={DB_NAME} --user={DB_ROOT_USER} --password={DB_ROOT_PASSWORD} {DB_HOST_STRING} -e "SET GLOBAL max_allowed_packet=64*1024*1024;"`
     Then the return code should be 0
 
     # This throws a warning because of the password.
-    When I try `mysql --database={DB_NAME} --user={DB_USER} --password={DB_PASSWORD} {DB_HOST_STRING} < test_db.sql`
+    When I try `{MYSQL_BINARY} --database={DB_NAME} --user={DB_USER} --password={DB_PASSWORD} {DB_HOST_STRING} < test_db.sql`
     Then the return code should be 0
 
     # The --skip-column-statistics flag is not always present.
-    When I try `mysqldump --help | grep -q 'column-statistics' && echo '--skip-column-statistics'`
+    When I try `{SQL_DUMP_COMMAND} --help | grep -q 'column-statistics' && echo '--skip-column-statistics'`
     Then save STDOUT as {SKIP_COLUMN_STATISTICS_FLAG}
 
     # This throws a warning because of the password.
-    When I try `{INVOKE_WP_CLI_WITH_PHP_ARGS--dmemory_limit=50M -ddisable_functions=ini_set} eval '\WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command("/usr/bin/env mysqldump {SKIP_COLUMN_STATISTICS_FLAG} --no-tablespaces {DB_NAME}", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}" ], null, true);'`
+    When I try `{INVOKE_WP_CLI_WITH_PHP_ARGS--dmemory_limit=50M -ddisable_functions=ini_set} eval '\WP_CLI\Utils\run_mysql_command("/usr/bin/env {SQL_DUMP_COMMAND} {SKIP_COLUMN_STATISTICS_FLAG} --no-tablespaces {DB_NAME}", [ "user" => "{DB_USER}", "pass" => "{DB_PASSWORD}", "host" => "{DB_HOST}" ], null, true);'`
     Then the return code should be 0
     And STDOUT should not be empty
     And STDOUT should contain:
diff --git a/php/utils.php b/php/utils.php
index 1d937b7b7c..16462fed1e 100644
--- a/php/utils.php
+++ b/php/utils.php
@@ -1818,37 +1818,103 @@ function pluralize( $noun, $count = null ) {
 }
 
 /**
- * Get the path to the mysql binary.
+ * Return the detected database type.
  *
- * @return string Path to the mysql binary, or an empty string if not found.
+ * Can be either 'sqlite' (if in a WordPress installation with the SQLite drop-in),
+ * 'mysql', or 'mariadb'.
+ *
+ * @return string Database type.
+ */
+function get_db_type() {
+	static $db_type = null;
+
+	if ( defined( 'SQLITE_DB_DROPIN_VERSION' ) ) {
+		return 'sqlite';
+	}
+
+	if ( null !== $db_type ) {
+		return $db_type;
+	}
+
+	$db_type = 'mysql';
+
+	$binary = get_mysql_binary_path();
+
+	if ( '' !== $binary ) {
+		$result = Process::create( "$binary --version", null, null )->run();
+
+		if ( 0 === $result->return_code ) {
+			$db_type = ( false !== strpos( $result->stdout, 'MariaDB' ) ) ? 'mariadb' : 'mysql';
+		}
+	}
+
+	return $db_type;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get the path to the MySQL or MariaDB binary.
+ *
+ * If the MySQL binary is provided by MariaDB (as determined by the version string),
+ * prefers the actual MariaDB binary.
+ *
+ * @since 2.12.0 Now also checks for MariaDB.
+ *
+ * @return string Path to the MySQL/MariaDB binary, or an empty string if not found.
  */
 function get_mysql_binary_path() {
 	static $path = null;
 
-	if ( null === $path ) {
-		$result = Process::create( '/usr/bin/env which mysql', null, null )->run();
+	if ( null !== $path ) {
+		return $path;
+	}
 
-		if ( 0 !== $result->return_code ) {
-			$path = '';
-		} else {
-			$path = trim( $result->stdout );
+	$path    = '';
+	$mysql   = Process::create( '/usr/bin/env which mysql', null, null )->run();
+	$mariadb = Process::create( '/usr/bin/env which mariadb', null, null )->run();
+
+	$mysql_binary   = trim( $mysql->stdout );
+	$mariadb_binary = trim( $mariadb->stdout );
+
+	if ( 0 === $mysql->return_code ) {
+		if ( '' !== $mysql_binary ) {
+			$path   = $mysql_binary;
+			$result = Process::create( "$mysql_binary --version", null, null )->run();
+
+			// It's actually MariaDB disguised as MySQL.
+			if ( 0 === $result->return_code && false !== strpos( $result->stdout, 'MariaDB' ) && 0 === $mariadb->return_code ) {
+				$path = $mariadb_binary;
+			}
 		}
+	} elseif ( 0 === $mariadb->return_code ) {
+		$path = $mariadb_binary;
+	}
+
+	if ( '' === $path ) {
+		WP_CLI::Error( 'Could not find mysql binary' );
 	}
 
 	return $path;
 }
 
 /**
- * Get the version of the MySQL database.
+ * Get the version of the MySQL or MariaDB database.
+ *
+ * @since 2.12.0 Now also checks for MariaDB.
  *
- * @return string Version of the MySQL database, or an empty string if not
- *                found.
+ * @return string Version of the MySQL/MariaDB database,
+ *                or an empty string if not found.
  */
 function get_mysql_version() {
 	static $version = null;
 
-	if ( null === $version ) {
-		$result = Process::create( '/usr/bin/env mysql --version', null, null )->run();
+	if ( null !== $version ) {
+		return $version;
+	}
+
+	$db_type = get_db_type();
+
+	if ( 'sqlite' !== $db_type ) {
+		$result = Process::create( "/usr/bin/env $db_type --version", null, null )->run();
 
 		if ( 0 !== $result->return_code ) {
 			$version = '';
@@ -1860,6 +1926,24 @@ function get_mysql_version() {
 	return $version;
 }
 
+/**
+	* Returns the correct `dump` command based on the detected database type.
+	*
+	* @return string The appropriate dump command.
+	*/
+function get_sql_dump_command() {
+	return 'mariadb' === get_db_type() ? 'mariadb-dump' : 'mysqldump';
+}
+
+/**
+	* Returns the correct `check` command based on the detected database type.
+	*
+	* @return string The appropriate check command.
+	*/
+function get_sql_check_command() {
+	return 'mariadb' === get_db_type() ? 'mariadb-check' : 'mysqlcheck';
+}
+
 /**
  * Get the SQL modes of the MySQL session.
  *
@@ -1869,8 +1953,16 @@ function get_mysql_version() {
 function get_sql_modes() {
 	static $sql_modes = null;
 
-	if ( null === $sql_modes ) {
-		$result = Process::create( '/usr/bin/env mysql --no-auto-rehash --batch --skip-column-names --execute="SELECT @@SESSION.sql_mode"', null, null )->run();
+	if ( null !== $sql_modes ) {
+		return $sql_modes;
+	}
+
+	$binary = get_mysql_binary_path();
+
+	if ( '' === $binary ) {
+		$sql_modes = [];
+	} else {
+		$result = Process::create( "$binary --no-auto-rehash --batch --skip-column-names --execute=\"SELECT @@SESSION.sql_mode\"", null, null )->run();
 
 		if ( 0 !== $result->return_code ) {
 			$sql_modes = [];