diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index fad6d6d99..d8823237f 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 #
 
 # https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/FINERACT-763
-dist: trusty
+dist: bionic
 
 language: java
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ addons:
     - httpie
 
 before_install:
-  - echo "USE mysql;\nUPDATE user SET password=PASSWORD('mysql') WHERE user='root';\nFLUSH PRIVILEGES;\n" | mysql -u root
+  - echo "USE mysql;\nALTER USER 'root'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mysql';\n" | mysql -u root
   - mysql -u root -pmysql -e 'CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `fineract_tenants`;'
   - mysql -u root -pmysql -e 'CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `fineract_default`;'
 # Hardcoding the time zone is a temporary fix for https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/FINERACT-723
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bb455c26d..de1c4e59c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,15 +19,15 @@ If you are interested in contributing to this project, but perhaps don't quite k
 Requirements
 ============
 * Java >= 11 (OpenJDK JVM is tested by our CI on Travis)
-* MySQL 5.5
+* MySQL 5.7
 
 You can run the required version of the database server in a container, instead of having to install it, like this:
 
-    docker run --name mysql-5.5 -p 3306:3306 -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=mysql -d mysql:5.5
+    docker run --name mysql-5.7 -p 3306:3306 -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=mysql -d mysql:5.7
 
 and stop and destroy it like this:
 
-    docker rm -f mysql-5.5
+    docker rm -f mysql-5.7
 
 Beware that this database container database keeps its state inside the container and not on the host filesystem.  It is lost when you destroy (rm) this container.  This is typically fine for development.  See [Caveats: Where to Store Data on the database container documentation](https://hub.docker.com/_/mysql) re. how to make it persistent instead of ephemeral.