diff --git a/bitnami/wordpress/4/docker-compose.yml b/bitnami/wordpress/4/docker-compose.yml
index c5072a15596e..43b083065fc3 100644
--- a/bitnami/wordpress/4/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/bitnami/wordpress/4/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ version: '2'
 services:
   mariadb:
     image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - 'mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb'
   wordpress:
diff --git a/bitnami/wordpress/README.md b/bitnami/wordpress/README.md
index 040af7be4ce4..941da0498c7b 100644
--- a/bitnami/wordpress/README.md
+++ b/bitnami/wordpress/README.md
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@ version: '2'
 
 services:
   mariadb:
-    image: bitnami/mariadb:latest
+    image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb
   wordpress:
@@ -77,7 +79,7 @@ If you want to run the application manually instead of using `docker-compose`, t
 
   ```bash
   $ docker volume create --name mariadb_data
-  $ docker run -d --name mariadb \
+  $ docker run -d --name mariadb -e ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes \
     --net wordpress-tier \
     --volume mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb \
     bitnami/mariadb:latest
@@ -113,7 +115,9 @@ The following `docker-compose.yml` template demonstrates the use of host directo
 version: '2'
 services:
   mariadb:
-    image: bitnami/mariadb:latest
+    image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - /path/to/mariadb-persistence:/bitnami/mariadb
   wordpress:
@@ -138,7 +142,7 @@ services:
 
 2. Create a MariaDB container with host volume
   ```bash
-  $ docker run -d --name mariadb \
+  $ docker run -d --name mariadb -e ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes \
     --net wordpress-tier \
     --volume /path/to/mariadb-persistence:/bitnami/mariadb \
     bitnami/mariadb:latest
@@ -233,7 +237,9 @@ version: '2'
 
 services:
   mariadb:
-    image: bitnami/mariadb:latest
+    image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb
   wordpress:
diff --git a/bitnami/wordpress/docker-compose.yml b/bitnami/wordpress/docker-compose.yml
index 0c2909b273a3..dc5e066cf742 100644
--- a/bitnami/wordpress/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/bitnami/wordpress/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ version: '2'
 services:
   mariadb:
     image: 'bitnami/mariadb:latest'
+    environment:
+      - ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
     volumes:
       - 'mariadb_data:/bitnami/mariadb'
   wordpress: