diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 937649c..cbcb72b 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ ENTRA_API_SCOPE=
 INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAILS=spencerm@pescoinc.biz
 
 # ── MySQL ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Default image is mysql:8.4, which requires an x86-64-v2 CPU. If the mysql
+# container dies with "Fatal glibc error: CPU does not support x86-64-v2"
+# (common on VMs with a generic kvm64/qemu64 CPU type, or pre-2009 hardware),
+# uncomment the Debian-based build:
+#MYSQL_IMAGE=mysql:8.0-debian
 MYSQL_HOST=mysql
 MYSQL_PORT=3306
 MYSQL_DATABASE=pesco_ncr
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d7cdc33..cdece94 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -304,5 +304,6 @@ Cairo — `brew install pango` on macOS). The Docker image includes them.
 | "Could not verify group membership (group overage)" | Grant delegated `GroupMember.Read.All` + admin consent, or scope the group claim to "Groups assigned to the application". |
 | Notification warning "OBO token exchange failed" | Check `ENTRA_CLIENT_SECRET`, and that `Mail.Send` has admin consent. |
 | `api` container restarts at boot | MySQL still initializing; the entrypoint retries migrations 12×. Check `docker compose logs mysql`. |
+| mysql dies instantly: "Fatal glibc error: CPU does not support x86-64-v2" | The host/VM CPU lacks x86-64-v2 (generic `kvm64`/`qemu64` VM CPU type, or pre-2009 hardware). Either set the hypervisor CPU type to `host` and reboot the VM, or set `MYSQL_IMAGE=mysql:8.0-debian` in `.env` and `docker compose down -v && docker compose up -d`. |
 | Power BI can't authenticate | Update Connector/NET (needs `caching_sha2_password`), verify the `powerbi_ro` grants (`scripts/powerbi_grants.sql`). |
 | Uploads fail at ~25 MB | Raise `MAX_UPLOAD_MB` (API) — nginx `client_max_body_size` is 50 MB in `frontend/nginx.conf`. |
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index d75b6e0..52f50fb 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@ name: pesco-ncr
 
 services:
   mysql:
-    image: mysql:8.4
+    # mysql:8.4 (Oracle Linux 9) requires an x86-64-v2 CPU. On hosts/VMs
+    # without it ("Fatal glibc error: CPU does not support x86-64-v2"),
+    # set MYSQL_IMAGE=mysql:8.0-debian in .env (baseline x86-64 build).
+    image: ${MYSQL_IMAGE:-mysql:8.4}
     command:
       - --character-set-server=utf8mb4
       - --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci