diff --git a/docker/gerrit/base/Dockerfile b/docker/gerrit/base/Dockerfile
index aadee0b46a..60236b625b 100644
--- a/docker/gerrit/base/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/gerrit/base/Dockerfile
@@ -58,9 +58,10 @@ RUN mkdir /var/gerrit/bin \
   && mkdir /var/gerrit/hooks \
   && mkdir /var/gerrit/static
 
-# Download mysql-connector so that gerrit doens't download it during init.
+# Download mariadb java client.
+# Modern gerrit stopped downloading missing libs during init which means we
+# need to do the downland and install ourselves.
 RUN mkdir /var/gerrit/lib && \
-  wget https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/mysql/mysql-connector-java/5.1.43/mysql-connector-java-5.1.43.jar -O /var/gerrit/lib/mysql-connector-java.jar && \
   wget https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/mariadb/jdbc/mariadb-java-client/2.7.2/mariadb-java-client-2.7.2.jar -O /var/gerrit/lib/mariadb-java-client.jar
 
 # Allow incoming traffic
diff --git a/inventory/service/host_vars/review02.opendev.org.yaml b/inventory/service/host_vars/review02.opendev.org.yaml
index b7f6c0dd05..2cd9dca1f4 100644
--- a/inventory/service/host_vars/review02.opendev.org.yaml
+++ b/inventory/service/host_vars/review02.opendev.org.yaml
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ gerrit_vhost_name: review.opendev.org
 gerrit_serverid: 4a232e18-c5a9-48ee-94c0-e04e7cca6543
 gerrit_redirect_vhost: review.openstack.org
 gerrit_heap_limit: 96g
-gerrit_reviewdb_database_type: mariadb_container
 letsencrypt_certs:
   review02-opendev-org-main:
     - review.opendev.org
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/README.rst b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/README.rst
index a415076d2d..6bd0ea7ae1 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/README.rst
+++ b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/README.rst
@@ -1,32 +1,21 @@
 Run Gerrit.
 
+This role assumes it will have a local MariaDB running adjacent to the
+Gerrit service. Variables below configure MariaDB connection details.
+
 **Role Variables**
 
-.. zuul:rolevar:: gerrit_reviewdb_database_type
-   :default: h2
-
-   Database to use for the reviewdb
-
-   One of
-
-    * h2 : use local h2 database, not for production
-    * mysql : connect to existing mysql instance
-    * mariadb_container : run a sibling mariadb container
-
 .. zuul:rolevar:: gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_dbname
    :default: gerrit
 
-   When ``gerrit_reviewdb_database_type`` is ``mariadb_container``; the default
-   database to make and connect to.
+   The database to make and connect to.
 
 .. zuul:rolevar:: gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_username
    :default: gerrit
 
-   When ``gerrit_reviewdb_database_type`` is ``mariadb_container``; the default
-   user to make and connect with.
+   The user to make and connect with.
 
 .. zuul:rolevar:: gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_password
    :default: <unset>
 
-   When ``gerrit_reviewdb_database_type`` is ``mariadb_container``; the default
-   password to set for ``gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_username``
+   The password to set for ``gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_username``
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/defaults/main.yaml b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/defaults/main.yaml
index ad8d166380..359aefbc79 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/defaults/main.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/defaults/main.yaml
@@ -24,6 +24,5 @@ gerrit_container_volumes:
 gerrit_project_creator_user: openstack-project-creator
 gerrit_manage_projects_args: "-v"
 gerrit_track_upstream: true
-gerrit_reviewdb_database_type: h2
 gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_username: gerrit
 gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_dbname: accountPatchReviewDb
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/backup.yaml b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/backup.yaml
index db74b9441c..5bd2d14774 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/backup.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/backup.yaml
@@ -3,27 +3,6 @@
     path: /etc/borg-streams
     state: directory
 
-- name: Setup remote mysql backup jobs
-  when: gerrit_reviewdb_database_type == 'mysql'
-  block:
-    # NOTE(ianw) 2021-02-19 We are explicitly backing up just
-    # accountPatchReviewDb because "--all-databases" doesn't work with
-    # our trove instance
-    #  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mysql-5.7/+bug/1914695
-    - name: Create accountPatchReviewDb streaming file
-      copy:
-        content: >-
-            /usr/bin/mysqldump --defaults-file=/root/.gerrit_db.cnf --skip-extended-insert --ignore-table mysql.event --single-transaction --databases accountPatchReviewDb
-        dest: /etc/borg-streams/mysql-accountPatchReviewDb
-
-    - name: Set up cron job to back up gerrit db to disk
-      cron:
-        name: gerrit-backup
-        user: root
-        hour: 0
-        minute: 0
-        job: '/usr/bin/mysqldump --defaults-file=/root/.gerrit_db.cnf --opt --ignore-table mysql.event --single-transaction --databases accountPatchReviewDb | gzip -9 > /home/gerrit2/mysql_backups/gerrit.sql.gz'
-
 # NOTE(ianw) 2021-06-09 : we don't also keep an on-disk backup as we
 # did for the old mysql instance above because it's easy to restore
 # from borg now (in the past with bup it was a real pain to extract
@@ -32,12 +11,9 @@
 #  # borg-mount <backup-server>
 # the dump file will be under
 #  /opt/backups/review02-mariadb-<date>T<time>/mariadb
-- name: Setup container mariadb backup jobs
-  when: gerrit_reviewdb_database_type == 'mariadb_container'
-  block:
-    - name: Create mariadb streaming file
-      copy:
-        content: >-
-            /usr/local/bin/docker-compose -f /etc/gerrit-compose/docker-compose.yaml exec -T mariadb
-            bash -c '/usr/bin/mysqldump --all-databases --single-transaction -uroot -p"$MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD"'
-        dest: /etc/borg-streams/mariadb
+- name: Create mariadb streaming file to setup mariadb backup jobs
+  copy:
+    content: >-
+        /usr/local/bin/docker-compose -f /etc/gerrit-compose/docker-compose.yaml exec -T mariadb
+        bash -c '/usr/bin/mysqldump --all-databases --single-transaction -uroot -p"$MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD"'
+    dest: /etc/borg-streams/mariadb
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/main.yaml b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/main.yaml
index f5444f5b1a..f06eeffe2e 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/main.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/tasks/main.yaml
@@ -284,30 +284,20 @@
 - name: Start gerrit
   include_tasks: start.yaml
 
-- name: Set up root mysql conf file
-  when: gerrit_reviewdb_database_type == 'mysql'
+- name: Setup reviewdb directory for mariadb
+  file:
+    state: directory
+    path: /home/gerrit2/reviewdb
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: 0755
+
+- name: Set up root mariadb conf file
   template:
-    src: root.my.cnf.mysql.j2
+    src: root.my.cnf.mariadb_container.j2
     dest: /root/.gerrit_db.cnf
     mode: 0400
 
-- name: Setup mariadb container
-  when: gerrit_reviewdb_database_type == 'mariadb_container'
-  block:
-    - name: Setup reviewdb directory
-      file:
-        state: directory
-        path: /home/gerrit2/reviewdb
-        owner: root
-        group: root
-        mode: 0755
-
-    - name: Set up root mariadb conf file
-      template:
-        src: root.my.cnf.mariadb_container.j2
-        dest: /root/.gerrit_db.cnf
-        mode: 0400
-
 - name: Set up cron job to optmize git repos
   cron:
     name: optmize-git-repos
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/docker-compose.yaml.j2 b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/docker-compose.yaml.j2
index 99ff14f14b..98ef98b41f 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/docker-compose.yaml.j2
+++ b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/docker-compose.yaml.j2
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 version: '2'
 services:
-{% if gerrit_reviewdb_database_type == 'mariadb_container' %}
   mariadb:
     image: docker.io/library/mariadb:10.4
     network_mode: host
@@ -18,14 +17,11 @@ services:
       driver: syslog
       options:
         tag: "docker-mariadb"
-{% endif %}
   gerrit:
     image: {{ gerrit_container_image }}
-{% if gerrit_reviewdb_database_type == 'mariadb_container' %}
     depends_on:
       - mariadb
     command: ["/wait-for-it.sh", "127.0.0.1:3306", "--", "/run-gerrit.sh"]
-{% endif %}
     network_mode: host
     user: gerrit
     stop_signal: SIGHUP
diff --git a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/secure.config.j2 b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/secure.config.j2
index dc0ed39b94..ce80b29345 100644
--- a/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/secure.config.j2
+++ b/playbooks/roles/gerrit/templates/secure.config.j2
@@ -1,11 +1,5 @@
-{% if gerrit_reviewdb_database_type == 'mysql' %}
-[accountPatchReviewDb]
-	url = jdbc:mysql://{{ gerrit_mysql_host }}:3306/accountPatchReviewDb?characterSetResults=utf8&characterEncoding=utf8&connectionCollation=utf8_bin&useUnicode=yes&user=gerrit2&password={{ gerrit_mysql_password }}
-{% endif %}
-{% if gerrit_reviewdb_database_type == 'mariadb_container' %}
 [accountPatchReviewDb]
 	url = jdbc:mariadb://127.0.0.1:3306/{{ gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_dbname }}?sessionVariables=character_set_client=utf8,character_set_results=utf8,character_set_connection=utf8,collation_connection=utf8_unicode_ci,collation_database=utf8_unicode_ci,collation_server=utf8_unicode_ci&user={{ gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_username }}&password={{ gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_password }}
-{% endif %}
 [auth]
 	registerEmailPrivateKey = {{ gerrit_email_private_key }}
 {% if gerrit_rest_token_private_key is defined %}
diff --git a/playbooks/zuul/templates/group_vars/review.yaml.j2 b/playbooks/zuul/templates/group_vars/review.yaml.j2
index ec83d5f4e3..8b84b71fc2 100644
--- a/playbooks/zuul/templates/group_vars/review.yaml.j2
+++ b/playbooks/zuul/templates/group_vars/review.yaml.j2
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ gerrit_replication_ssh_rsa_key_contents: |
   edHQJDKx5PktPWsAAAAgbW9yZHJlZEBNb250eXMtTWFjQm9vay1BaXIubG9jYWwBAgM=
   -----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
 gerrit_replication_ssh_rsa_pubkey_contents: ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQDQhZQ0z+RVPmOzY2f56N9/PrqDeHftvnagPJyOOXnCd/9N0j+stFWNmavvb8y4dRZ+y6lOJpzPYEahwUUXZHAanz5l5as+VihWq7ldcMxSPnmkC9zr65Z8eNDcM2Bzk8gx5e4DE6OgpWkc6ke9MpwI5dmfW7o53gQZkdSc94TuLr+ZCYUKo7fScsVeE+F9dT0PLyW0zU7c23PzYnkKcrB9ihpQfSfbJj9EAtsA3aA8ZdHt78i5r7+0u0JZxaWoKjkCfYqC8ofbTU61YuUO8TTgNgMC6ZzBmTRdRRRKdGun+m1fqtgIqPSi+iZpKnERgg/hPwY+gqcKh+svW6pgCDhJ gerrit-code-review-replication
-gerrit_reviewdb_database_type: mariadb_container
 gerrit_reviewdb_mariadb_password: password
 gerrit_run_compose_up: true
 gerrit_run_init: true