diff --git a/bin/install-wp-tests.sh b/bin/install-wp-tests.sh
index 0bb5ac4..d0a3663 100755
--- a/bin/install-wp-tests.sh
+++ b/bin/install-wp-tests.sh
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ install_db() {
 	# the mariadb commands are not available on some self-hosted runner images
 	apt update && apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client -y
 	service mariadb start
-	mysql -u root -p"${DB_PASS}" -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO '${DB_USER}'@'${DB_HOST}' IDENTIFIED BY '${DB_PASS}' WITH GRANT OPTION; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"
+	mysql -u root -p "${DB_PASS}" -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO '${DB_USER}'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY '${DB_PASS}' WITH GRANT OPTION; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"
 
 	if [ ${SKIP_DB_CREATE} = "true" ]; then
 		return 0