diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 0f4a7fc3..5166fe90 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@ mysql:
   ports:
     - "3306:3306"
   environment:
-    - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=petclinic
+    - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=
+    - MYSQL_ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=true
+    - MYSQL_USER=petclinic
+    - MYSQL_PASSWORD=petclinic
     - MYSQL_DATABASE=petclinic
   volumes:
     - "./conf.d:/etc/mysql/conf.d:ro"
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 37b44292..715eb65b 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -45,9 +45,11 @@ Note that whenever the database type is changed, the data-access.properties file
 You could start a MySql database with docker:
 
 ```
-docker run -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=petclinic -e MYSQL_DATABASE=petclinic -p 3306:3306 mysql:5.7
+docker run -e MYSQL_USER=petclinic -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=petclinic -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root -e MYSQL_DATABASE=petclinic -p 3306:3306 mysql:5.7.8
 ```
 
+Further documentation is provided [here](https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-petclinic/blob/master/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt).
+
 
 ## Looking for something in particular?
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application-mysql.properties b/src/main/resources/application-mysql.properties
index 823b32b6..6d54ddad 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application-mysql.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/application-mysql.properties
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # database init, supports mysql too
 database=mysql
 spring.datasource.url=jdbc:mysql://localhost/petclinic
-spring.datasource.username=root
+spring.datasource.username=petclinic
 spring.datasource.password=petclinic
-# Uncomment this the first time the app runs
-# spring.datasource.initialization-mode=always
+# SQL is written to be idempotent so this is safe
+spring.datasource.initialization-mode=always
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt
index 6733a933..270274b2 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt
+++ b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/petclinic_db_setup_mysql.txt
@@ -9,9 +9,24 @@
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 1) Download and install the MySQL database (e.g., MySQL Community Server 5.1.x),
-   which can be found here: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/. Or run the 
+   which can be found here: https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/. Or run the
    "docker-compose.yml" from the root of the project (if you have docker installed
-   locally).
+   locally):
 
-2) Create the PetClinic database and user by executing the "db/mysql/{schema,data}.sql"
-   scripts (or set "spring.datasource.initialize=true" the first time you run the app).
+        $ docker-compose up
+        ...
+        mysql_1_eedb4818d817 | MySQL init process done. Ready for start up.
+        ...
+
+2) (Once only) create the PetClinic database and user by executing the "db/mysql/user.sql"
+   scripts. You can connect to the database running in the docker container using
+   `mysql -u root -h localhost --protocol tcp`, but you don't need to run the script there
+   because the petclinic user is already set up if you use the provided `docker-compose.yaml`.
+
+3) Run the app with `spring.profiles.active=mysql` (e.g. as a System property via the command
+   line, but any way that sets that property in a Spring Boot app should work).
+
+N.B. the "petclinic" database has to exist for the app to work with the JDBC URL value
+as it is configured by default. This condition is taken care of automatically by the
+docker-compose configuration provided, or by the `user.sql` script if you run that as
+root.
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/schema.sql b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/schema.sql
index 6a982598..eb5d7d5d 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/schema.sql
+++ b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/schema.sql
@@ -1,13 +1,3 @@
-CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS petclinic;
-
-ALTER DATABASE petclinic
-  DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8
-  DEFAULT COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
-
-GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON petclinic.* TO pc@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'pc';
-
-USE petclinic;
-
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS vets (
   id INT(4) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
   first_name VARCHAR(30),
diff --git a/src/main/resources/db/mysql/user.sql b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/user.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..60abcee7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/db/mysql/user.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS petclinic;
+
+ALTER DATABASE petclinic
+  DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8
+  DEFAULT COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
+
+GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON petclinic.* TO 'petclinic@%' IDENTIFIED BY 'petclinic';