diff --git a/mariadb/Dockerfile b/mariadb/Dockerfile
index 7b670c2b..c2ae9ac7 100644
--- a/mariadb/Dockerfile
+++ b/mariadb/Dockerfile
@@ -24,4 +24,6 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,id=mariadb-apk-${TARGETARCH},sharing=locked,target=/var/c
 # hardware.
 ENV S6_CMD_WAIT_FOR_SERVICES_MAXTIME=600000
 
+ENV MYSQL_MAX_ALLOWED_PACKET=16777216
+
 COPY --link rootfs /
diff --git a/mariadb/README.md b/mariadb/README.md
index 1937280e..87c088d0 100644
--- a/mariadb/README.md
+++ b/mariadb/README.md
@@ -37,10 +37,11 @@ Requires `islandora/base` docker image to build. Please refer to the
 Please see the documentation in the [base image] for more information about the
 default database connection configuration.
 
-| Environment Variable | Default | Description                                                                           |
-| :------------------- | :------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
-| MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD  |         | The database root user password. Defaults to `DB_ROOT_PASSWORD`                       |
-| MYSQL_ROOT_USER      |         | The database root user (used to create the site database). Defaults to `DB_ROOT_USER` |
+| Environment Variable     | Default  | Description                                                                                                                                            |
+| :----------------------- | :------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD      |          | The database root user password. Defaults to `DB_ROOT_PASSWORD`                                                                                        |
+| MYSQL_ROOT_USER          |          | The database root user (used to create the site database). Defaults to `DB_ROOT_USER`                                                                  |
+| MYSQL_MAX_ALLOWED_PACKET | 16777216 | Max packet length to send to or receive from the server, [documentation](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/ref/mdb/system-variables/max_allowed_packet/) |
 
 ## Logs
 
diff --git a/mariadb/rootfs/etc/confd/conf.d/mariadb-server.toml b/mariadb/rootfs/etc/confd/conf.d/mariadb-server.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7b5a8c2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mariadb/rootfs/etc/confd/conf.d/mariadb-server.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[template]
+src = "mariadb-server.cnf.tmpl"
+dest = "/etc/my.cnf.d/mariadb-server.cnf"
+uid = 0
+gid = 0
+mode = "0644"
+keys = [ "/" ]
diff --git a/mariadb/rootfs/etc/my.cnf.d/mariadb-server.cnf b/mariadb/rootfs/etc/confd/templates/mariadb-server.cnf.tmpl
similarity index 85%
rename from mariadb/rootfs/etc/my.cnf.d/mariadb-server.cnf
rename to mariadb/rootfs/etc/confd/templates/mariadb-server.cnf.tmpl
index 77569381..7bda9905 100644
--- a/mariadb/rootfs/etc/my.cnf.d/mariadb-server.cnf
+++ b/mariadb/rootfs/etc/confd/templates/mariadb-server.cnf.tmpl
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 [mysqld]
 # skip-networking
 
+# Allow for max_allowed_packet.
+max_allowed_packet={{ getenv "MYSQL_MAX_ALLOWED_PACKET" }}
+
 # Galera-related settings
 [galera]
 # Mandatory settings
@@ -35,7 +38,7 @@
 # you can put MariaDB-only options here
 [mariadb]
 
-# This group is only read by MariaDB-10.3 servers.
+# This group is only read by MariaDB-10.5 servers.
 # If you use the same .cnf file for MariaDB of different versions,
 # use this group for options that older servers don't understand
-[mariadb-10.3]
+[mariadb-10.5]