diff --git a/api/database/migrations/002_photo.up.sql b/api/database/migrations/002_photo.up.sql
index 5d27a984..f6b5878e 100644
--- a/api/database/migrations/002_photo.up.sql
+++ b/api/database/migrations/002_photo.up.sql
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS album (
   title varchar(256) NOT NULL,
   parent_album int,
   owner_id int NOT NULL,
-  path varchar(512) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
+  path varchar(512) NOT NULL,
+  path_hash varchar(32) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
 
   PRIMARY KEY (album_id),
   FOREIGN KEY (parent_album) REFERENCES album(album_id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
@@ -30,7 +31,8 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS album (
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS photo (
   photo_id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
   title varchar(256) NOT NULL,
-  path varchar(1024) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
+  path varchar(1024) NOT NULL,
+  path_hash varchar(32) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
   album_id int NOT NULL,
   exif_id int,
 
diff --git a/api/database/migrations/005_utf8_migration.down.sql b/api/database/migrations/005_utf8_migration.down.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..393e20e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/database/migrations/005_utf8_migration.down.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+-- Migrate all tables in database to use utf8 for better language support
+ALTER TABLE access_token CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
+ALTER TABLE album CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
+ALTER TABLE photo CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
+ALTER TABLE photo_exif CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
+ALTER TABLE photo_url CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
+ALTER TABLE share_token CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
+ALTER TABLE site_info CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
+ALTER TABLE user CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
diff --git a/api/graphql/models/album.go b/api/graphql/models/album.go
index 11491eaa..1f29e13a 100644
--- a/api/graphql/models/album.go
+++ b/api/graphql/models/album.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ type Album struct {
 	ParentAlbum *int
 	OwnerID     int
 	Path        string
+	PathHash    string
 }
 
 func (a *Album) ID() int {
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ func (a *Album) FilePath() string {
 func NewAlbumFromRow(row *sql.Row) (*Album, error) {
 	album := Album{}
 
-	if err := row.Scan(&album.AlbumID, &album.Title, &album.ParentAlbum, &album.OwnerID, &album.Path); err != nil {
+	if err := row.Scan(&album.AlbumID, &album.Title, &album.ParentAlbum, &album.OwnerID, &album.Path, &album.PathHash); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ func NewAlbumsFromRows(rows *sql.Rows) ([]*Album, error) {
 
 	for rows.Next() {
 		var album Album
-		if err := rows.Scan(&album.AlbumID, &album.Title, &album.ParentAlbum, &album.OwnerID, &album.Path); err != nil {
+		if err := rows.Scan(&album.AlbumID, &album.Title, &album.ParentAlbum, &album.OwnerID, &album.Path, &album.PathHash); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		albums = append(albums, &album)
diff --git a/api/graphql/models/photo.go b/api/graphql/models/photo.go
index dc6eb24c..75cdd409 100644
--- a/api/graphql/models/photo.go
+++ b/api/graphql/models/photo.go
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 type Photo struct {
-	PhotoID int
-	Title   string
-	Path    string
-	AlbumId int
-	ExifId  *int
+	PhotoID  int
+	Title    string
+	Path     string
+	PathHash string
+	AlbumId  int
+	ExifId   *int
 }
 
 func (p *Photo) ID() int {
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ type PhotoURL struct {
 func NewPhotoFromRow(row *sql.Row) (*Photo, error) {
 	photo := Photo{}
 
-	if err := row.Scan(&photo.PhotoID, &photo.Title, &photo.Path, &photo.AlbumId, &photo.ExifId); err != nil {
+	if err := row.Scan(&photo.PhotoID, &photo.Title, &photo.Path, &photo.PathHash, &photo.AlbumId, &photo.ExifId); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ func NewPhotosFromRows(rows *sql.Rows) ([]*Photo, error) {
 
 	for rows.Next() {
 		var photo Photo
-		if err := rows.Scan(&photo.PhotoID, &photo.Title, &photo.Path, &photo.AlbumId, &photo.ExifId); err != nil {
+		if err := rows.Scan(&photo.PhotoID, &photo.Title, &photo.Path, &photo.PathHash, &photo.AlbumId, &photo.ExifId); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		photos = append(photos, &photo)
diff --git a/api/scanner/album_scanner.go b/api/scanner/album_scanner.go
index a07cce5b..a4a7abcb 100644
--- a/api/scanner/album_scanner.go
+++ b/api/scanner/album_scanner.go
@@ -166,14 +166,14 @@ func scan(database *sql.DB, user *models.User) {
 
 		// Make album if not exists
 		albumTitle := path.Base(albumPath)
-		_, err = tx.Exec("INSERT IGNORE INTO album (title, parent_album, owner_id, path) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)", albumTitle, albumParentId, user.UserID, albumPath)
+		_, err = tx.Exec("INSERT IGNORE INTO album (title, parent_album, owner_id, path, path_hash) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, MD5(path))", albumTitle, albumParentId, user.UserID, albumPath)
 		if err != nil {
 			ScannerError("Could not insert album into database: %s\n", err)
 			tx.Rollback()
 			continue
 		}
 
-		row := tx.QueryRow("SELECT album_id FROM album WHERE path = ?", albumPath)
+		row := tx.QueryRow("SELECT album_id FROM album WHERE path_hash = MD5(?)", albumPath)
 		var albumId int
 		if err := row.Scan(&albumId); err != nil {
 			ScannerError("Could not get id of album: %s\n", err)
@@ -400,8 +400,8 @@ func cleanupCache(database *sql.DB, scanned_albums []interface{}, scanned_photos
 	album_args = append(album_args, user.UserID)
 	album_args = append(album_args, scanned_albums...)
 
-	albums_questions := strings.Repeat("?,", len(scanned_albums))[:len(scanned_albums)*2-1]
-	rows, err := database.Query("SELECT album_id FROM album WHERE album.owner_id = ? AND path NOT IN ("+albums_questions+")", album_args...)
+	albums_questions := strings.Repeat("MD5(?),", len(scanned_albums))[:len(scanned_albums)*7-1]
+	rows, err := database.Query("SELECT album_id FROM album WHERE album.owner_id = ? AND path_hash NOT IN ("+albums_questions+")", album_args...)
 	if err != nil {
 		ScannerError("Could not get albums from database: %s\n", err)
 		return
@@ -436,11 +436,11 @@ func cleanupCache(database *sql.DB, scanned_albums []interface{}, scanned_photos
 	photo_args = append(photo_args, user.UserID)
 	photo_args = append(photo_args, scanned_photos...)
 
-	photo_questions := strings.Repeat("?,", len(scanned_photos))[:len(scanned_photos)*2-1]
+	photo_questions := strings.Repeat("MD5(?),", len(scanned_photos))[:len(scanned_photos)*7-1]
 
 	rows, err = database.Query(`
 		SELECT photo.photo_id as photo_id, album.album_id as album_id FROM photo JOIN album ON photo.album_id = album.album_id
-		WHERE album.owner_id = ? AND photo.path NOT IN (`+photo_questions+`)
+		WHERE album.owner_id = ? AND photo.path_hash NOT IN (`+photo_questions+`)
 	`, photo_args...)
 	if err != nil {
 		ScannerError("Could not get deleted photos from database: %s\n", err)
diff --git a/api/scanner/photo_scanner.go b/api/scanner/photo_scanner.go
index 8c551278..8ea2a976 100644
--- a/api/scanner/photo_scanner.go
+++ b/api/scanner/photo_scanner.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func ScanPhoto(tx *sql.Tx, photoPath string, albumId int, notificationKey string
 
 	// Check if image already exists
 	{
-		row := tx.QueryRow("SELECT * FROM photo WHERE path = ?", photoPath)
+		row := tx.QueryRow("SELECT * FROM photo WHERE path_hash = MD5(?)", photoPath)
 		photo, err := models.NewPhotoFromRow(row)
 		if err != sql.ErrNoRows {
 			if err == nil {
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func ScanPhoto(tx *sql.Tx, photoPath string, albumId int, notificationKey string
 		}
 	}
 
-	result, err := tx.Exec("INSERT INTO photo (title, path, album_id) VALUES (?, ?, ?)", photoName, photoPath, albumId)
+	result, err := tx.Exec("INSERT INTO photo (title, path, path_hash, album_id) VALUES (?, ?, MD5(path), ?)", photoName, photoPath, albumId)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("ERROR: Could not insert photo into database")
 		return nil, false, err