diff --git a/.github/CODEOWNERS b/.github/CODEOWNERS
index 32f0a000966..b4b82473d97 100644
--- a/.github/CODEOWNERS
+++ b/.github/CODEOWNERS
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 
 /docker/ @derekperkins @dkhenry
 /helm/ @derekperkins @dkhenry
+/config/mycnf/ @morgo
+/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go @morgo
diff --git a/config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf b/config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf
index 969b51baa34..e3d852fcfc0 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf
@@ -1,37 +1,24 @@
-# basic config parameters for all db instances in the grid
+# This sets some unsafe settings specifically for 
+# the test-suite which is currently MySQL 5.7 based
+# In future it should be renamed testsuite.cnf
 
-sql_mode = STRICT_TRANS_TABLES
-character_set_server = utf8
-collation_server = utf8_general_ci
-connect_timeout = 30
-datadir = {{.DataDir}}
-expire_logs_days = 3
-innodb_buffer_pool_size = 64M
-innodb_data_home_dir = {{.InnodbDataHomeDir}}
-innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2
-innodb_lock_wait_timeout = 20
+innodb_buffer_pool_size = 32M
+innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 0
 innodb_log_buffer_size = 1M
-innodb_log_file_size = 4M
-innodb_log_group_home_dir = {{.InnodbLogGroupHomeDir}}
+innodb_log_file_size = 5M
+
+# Native AIO tends to run into aio-max-nr limit during test startup.
+innodb_use_native_aio = 0
+
 key_buffer_size = 2M
-log-error = {{.ErrorLogPath}}
-long_query_time = 2
-pid-file = {{.PidFile}}
-port = {{.MysqlPort}}
-# all db instances should start in read-only mode - once the db is started and
-# fully functional, we'll push it into read-write mode
-read-only
-server-id = {{.ServerID}}
-skip-name-resolve
-# we now need networking for replication. this is a tombstone to simpler times.
-#skip_networking
-# all db instances should skip the slave startup - that way we can do any
-# out-of-bounds checking before we restart everything - in case we need to do
-# some extra work to skip mangled transactions or fudge the slave start
-skip_slave_start
-slave_net_timeout = 60
-slave_load_tmpdir = {{.SlaveLoadTmpDir}}
-slow-query-log
-slow-query-log-file = {{.SlowLogPath}}
-socket = {{.SocketFile}}
-tmpdir = {{.TmpDir}}
+sync_binlog=0
+innodb_doublewrite=0
+
+# These two settings are required for the testsuite to pass, 
+# but enabling them does not spark joy. They should be removed
+# in the future. See:
+# https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/5395
+# https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/5396
+
+binlog-format=statement
+sql_mode = STRICT_TRANS_TABLES
diff --git a/config/mycnf/default.cnf b/config/mycnf/default.cnf
index 61f767a8032..b8af15801b0 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/default.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/default.cnf
@@ -1,35 +1,35 @@
-# basic config parameters for all db instances in the grid
+# Global configuration that is auto-included for all MySQL/MariaDB versions
 
-sql_mode = STRICT_TRANS_TABLES
-binlog_format = statement
-character_set_server = utf8
-collation_server = utf8_general_ci
-connect_timeout = 30
 datadir = {{.DataDir}}
-expire_logs_days = 3
-innodb_buffer_pool_size = 32M
 innodb_data_home_dir = {{.InnodbDataHomeDir}}
-innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2
-innodb_lock_wait_timeout = 20
 innodb_log_group_home_dir = {{.InnodbLogGroupHomeDir}}
 log-error = {{.ErrorLogPath}}
-long_query_time = 2
-max_allowed_packet = 64M
-max_connections = 500
 pid-file = {{.PidFile}}
 port = {{.MysqlPort}}
+
 # all db instances should start in read-only mode - once the db is started and
 # fully functional, we'll push it into read-write mode
 read-only
 server-id = {{.ServerID}}
-skip-name-resolve
+
 # all db instances should skip the slave startup - that way we can do any
 # additional configuration (like enabling semi-sync) before we connect to
 # the master.
 skip_slave_start
-slave_net_timeout = 60
 slave_load_tmpdir = {{.SlaveLoadTmpDir}}
-slow-query-log
-slow-query-log-file = {{.SlowLogPath}}
 socket = {{.SocketFile}}
 tmpdir = {{.TmpDir}}
+
+slow-query-log-file = {{.SlowLogPath}}
+
+# These are sensible defaults that apply to all MySQL/MariaDB versions
+
+long_query_time = 2
+slow-query-log
+skip-name-resolve
+connect_timeout = 30
+innodb_lock_wait_timeout = 20
+max_allowed_packet = 64M
+max_connections = 500
+
+
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master.cnf b/config/mycnf/master.cnf
deleted file mode 100644
index 481f06f5ffd..00000000000
--- a/config/mycnf/master.cnf
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-# master.cnf parameters
-
-log-bin = {{.BinLogPath}}
-log-slave-updates
-sync_binlog = 1
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb100.cnf b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb100.cnf
index 3eed4d8ea5f..544681d601d 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb100.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb100.cnf
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 # This file is auto-included when MariaDB 10.0 is detected.
 
-innodb_support_xa = 0
-
 # Semi-sync replication is required for automated unplanned failover
 # (when the master goes away). Here we just load the plugin so it's
 # available if desired, but it's disabled at startup.
@@ -11,6 +9,11 @@ innodb_support_xa = 0
 # promoted or demoted.
 plugin-load = rpl_semi_sync_master=semisync_master.so;rpl_semi_sync_slave=semisync_slave.so
 
+slave_net_timeout = 60
+
+# MariaDB 10.0 is unstrict by default
+sql_mode = STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION
+
 # enable strict mode so it's safe to compare sequence numbers across different server IDs.
 gtid_strict_mode = 1
 innodb_stats_persistent = 0
@@ -21,3 +24,21 @@ innodb_stats_persistent = 0
 # a master that becomes unresponsive.
 rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = 1000000000000000000
 rpl_semi_sync_master_wait_no_slave = 1
+
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+log_bin
+sync_binlog = 1
+binlog_format = ROW
+log_slave_updates
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+# In MariaDB the default charset is latin1
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb101.cnf b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb101.cnf
index 8c5b9e47fac..01567b4d960 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb101.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb101.cnf
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 # This file is auto-included when MariaDB 10.1 is detected.
 
-innodb_support_xa = 0
-
 # Semi-sync replication is required for automated unplanned failover
 # (when the master goes away). Here we just load the plugin so it's
 # available if desired, but it's disabled at startup.
@@ -11,6 +9,11 @@ innodb_support_xa = 0
 # promoted or demoted.
 plugin-load = rpl_semi_sync_master=semisync_master.so;rpl_semi_sync_slave=semisync_slave.so
 
+slave_net_timeout = 60
+
+# MariaDB 10.1 default is only no-engine-substitution and no-auto-create-user
+sql_mode = STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION,NO_AUTO_CREATE_USER
+
 # enable strict mode so it's safe to compare sequence numbers across different server IDs.
 gtid_strict_mode = 1
 innodb_stats_persistent = 0
@@ -21,3 +24,20 @@ innodb_stats_persistent = 0
 # a master that becomes unresponsive.
 rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = 1000000000000000000
 rpl_semi_sync_master_wait_no_slave = 1
+
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+log_bin
+sync_binlog = 1
+binlog_format = ROW
+log_slave_updates
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+# In MariaDB the default charset is latin1
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb102.cnf b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb102.cnf
index 1ea39a2a47c..17d83cc3610 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb102.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb102.cnf
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 # This file is auto-included when MariaDB 10.2 is detected.
 
-innodb_support_xa = 0
-
 # Semi-sync replication is required for automated unplanned failover
 # (when the master goes away). Here we just load the plugin so it's
 # available if desired, but it's disabled at startup.
@@ -21,3 +19,20 @@ innodb_stats_persistent = 0
 # a master that becomes unresponsive.
 rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = 1000000000000000000
 rpl_semi_sync_master_wait_no_slave = 1
+
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+log_bin
+sync_binlog = 1
+binlog_format = ROW
+log_slave_updates
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+# In MariaDB the default charset is latin1
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb103.cnf b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb103.cnf
index ac8b38404fd..36eef4f2f50 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb103.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb103.cnf
@@ -4,20 +4,28 @@
 gtid_strict_mode = 1
 innodb_stats_persistent = 0
 
-# Semi-sync replication is required for automated unplanned failover
-# (when the master goes away). Here we just load the plugin so it's
-# available if desired, but it's disabled at startup.
-#
-# If the -enable_semi_sync flag is used, VTTablet will enable semi-sync
-# at the proper time when replication is set up, or when masters are
-# promoted or demoted.
-
-# semi_sync has been merged into master as of mariadb 10.3 so this is no longer needed 
-#plugin-load = rpl_semi_sync_master=semisync_master.so;rpl_semi_sync_slave=semisync_slave.so
-
 # When semi-sync is enabled, don't allow fallback to async
 # if you get no ack, or have no slaves. This is necessary to
 # prevent alternate futures when doing a failover in response to
 # a master that becomes unresponsive.
 rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = 1000000000000000000
 rpl_semi_sync_master_wait_no_slave = 1
+
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+log_bin
+sync_binlog = 1
+binlog_format = ROW
+log_slave_updates
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+# In MariaDB the default charset is latin1
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
+
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb104.cnf b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb104.cnf
index a144f352561..9444e8d67fa 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/master_mariadb104.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/master_mariadb104.cnf
@@ -4,20 +4,28 @@
 gtid_strict_mode = 1
 innodb_stats_persistent = 0
 
-# Semi-sync replication is required for automated unplanned failover
-# (when the master goes away). Here we just load the plugin so it's
-# available if desired, but it's disabled at startup.
-#
-# If the -enable_semi_sync flag is used, VTTablet will enable semi-sync
-# at the proper time when replication is set up, or when masters are
-# promoted or demoted.
-
-# semi_sync has been merged into master as of mariadb 10.3 so this is no longer needed 
-#plugin-load = rpl_semi_sync_master=semisync_master.so;rpl_semi_sync_slave=semisync_slave.so
-
 # When semi-sync is enabled, don't allow fallback to async
 # if you get no ack, or have no slaves. This is necessary to
 # prevent alternate futures when doing a failover in response to
 # a master that becomes unresponsive.
 rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = 1000000000000000000
 rpl_semi_sync_master_wait_no_slave = 1
+
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+log_bin
+sync_binlog = 1
+binlog_format = ROW
+log_slave_updates
+expire_logs_days = 3
+
+# In MariaDB the default charset is latin1
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
+
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf b/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf
index dcb8a4e113f..7524ef1663a 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf
@@ -1,20 +1,29 @@
 # This file is auto-included when MySQL 5.6 is detected.
 
-# Options for enabling GTID
-# https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/replication-gtids-howto.html
-gtid_mode = ON
+# MySQL 5.6 does not enable the binary log by default, and 
+# the default for sync_binlog is unsafe. The format is TABLE, and
+# info repositories also default to file.
+
 log_bin
+sync_binlog = 1
+gtid_mode = ON
+binlog_format = ROW
 log_slave_updates
 enforce_gtid_consistency
-
-# Crash-safe replication settings.
+expire_logs_days = 3
 master_info_repository = TABLE
 relay_log_info_repository = TABLE
 relay_log_purge = 1
 relay_log_recovery = 1
+slave_net_timeout = 60
 
-# Native AIO tends to run into aio-max-nr limit during test startup.
-innodb_use_native_aio = 0
+# In MySQL 5.6 the default charset is latin1
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
+# MySQL 5.6 is unstrict by default
+sql_mode = STRICT_TRANS_TABLES,NO_ENGINE_SUBSTITUTION
 
 # Semi-sync replication is required for automated unplanned failover
 # (when the master goes away). Here we just load the plugin so it's
@@ -31,3 +40,4 @@ plugin-load = rpl_semi_sync_master=semisync_master.so;rpl_semi_sync_slave=semisy
 # a master that becomes unresponsive.
 rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = 1000000000000000000
 rpl_semi_sync_master_wait_no_slave = 1
+
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master_mysql57.cnf b/config/mycnf/master_mysql57.cnf
index 381b05ac14c..82c4e36c5fb 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/master_mysql57.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/master_mysql57.cnf
@@ -1,19 +1,23 @@
 # This file is auto-included when MySQL 5.7 is detected.
 
-# Options for enabling GTID
-# https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/replication-gtids-howto.html
+# MySQL 5.7 does not enable the binary log by default, and 
+# info repositories default to file
+
 gtid_mode = ON
 log_bin
 log_slave_updates
 enforce_gtid_consistency
-innodb_use_native_aio = 0
-
-# Crash-safe replication settings.
+expire_logs_days = 3
 master_info_repository = TABLE
 relay_log_info_repository = TABLE
 relay_log_purge = 1
 relay_log_recovery = 1
 
+# In MySQL 5.7 the default charset is latin1
+
+character_set_server = utf8
+collation_server = utf8_general_ci
+
 # Semi-sync replication is required for automated unplanned failover
 # (when the master goes away). Here we just load the plugin so it's
 # available if desired, but it's disabled at startup.
diff --git a/config/mycnf/master_mysql80.cnf b/config/mycnf/master_mysql80.cnf
index e92b794ef9b..6c3d77d5135 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/master_mysql80.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/master_mysql80.cnf
@@ -1,20 +1,18 @@
 # This file is auto-included when MySQL 8.0 is detected.
 
-# Options for enabling GTID
-# https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.6/en/replication-gtids-howto.html
+# MySQL 8.0 enables binlog by default with sync_binlog and TABLE info repositories
+# It does not enable GTIDs or enforced GTID consistency
+
 gtid_mode = ON
-log_bin
-log_slave_updates
 enforce_gtid_consistency
-
-# Crash-safe replication settings.
-master_info_repository = TABLE
-relay_log_info_repository = TABLE
-relay_log_purge = 1
 relay_log_recovery = 1
+binlog_expire_logs_seconds = 259200
+
+# disable mysqlx
+mysqlx = 0
 
-# Native AIO tends to run into aio-max-nr limit during test startup.
-innodb_use_native_aio = 0
+# 8.0 changes the default auth-plugin to caching_sha2_password
+default_authentication_plugin = mysql_native_password
 
 # Semi-sync replication is required for automated unplanned failover
 # (when the master goes away). Here we just load the plugin so it's
@@ -25,16 +23,9 @@ innodb_use_native_aio = 0
 # promoted or demoted.
 plugin-load = rpl_semi_sync_master=semisync_master.so;rpl_semi_sync_slave=semisync_slave.so
 
-# When semi-sync is enabled, don't allow fallback to async
-# if you get no ack, or have no slaves. This is necessary to
-# prevent alternate futures when doing a failover in response to
-# a master that becomes unresponsive.
-rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = 1000000000000000000
-rpl_semi_sync_master_wait_no_slave = 1
-
-# disable mysqlx
-mysqlx = 0
+# MySQL 8.0 will not load plugins during --initialize
+# which makes these options unknown. Prefixing with --loose
+# tells the server it's fine if they are not understood.
+loose_rpl_semi_sync_master_timeout = 1000000000000000000
+loose_rpl_semi_sync_master_wait_no_slave = 1
 
-# 8.0 changes the default auth-plugin to caching_sha2_password
-default_authentication_plugin = mysql_native_password
-secure_file_priv = NULL
diff --git a/config/mycnf/rbr.cnf b/config/mycnf/rbr.cnf
index 5dde64cda57..10c17a6f09c 100644
--- a/config/mycnf/rbr.cnf
+++ b/config/mycnf/rbr.cnf
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-binlog-format=row
+# This file is used to allow legacy tests to pass
+# In theory it should not be required
+binlog_format=row
diff --git a/config/mycnf/replica.cnf b/config/mycnf/replica.cnf
deleted file mode 100644
index 74e9f2b34ea..00000000000
--- a/config/mycnf/replica.cnf
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-# replica.cnf - reserved for future tuning
-
-relay-log = {{.RelayLogPath}}
-relay-log-index =  {{.RelayLogIndexPath}}
-relay-log-info-file =  {{.RelayLogInfoPath}}
-master-info-file = {{.MasterInfoFile}}
-
-# required if this master is chained
-# probably safe to turn on all the time at the expense of some disk I/O
-# note: this is in the master conf too
-log-slave-updates
-
-#slave_compressed_protocol
diff --git a/config/mycnf/vtcombo.cnf b/config/mycnf/vtcombo.cnf
deleted file mode 100644
index de6141f2c97..00000000000
--- a/config/mycnf/vtcombo.cnf
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-max_connections = 5000
diff --git a/examples/compose/README.md b/examples/compose/README.md
index 12f81422d64..0efd2dcd6aa 100644
--- a/examples/compose/README.md
+++ b/examples/compose/README.md
@@ -157,7 +157,6 @@ DB_CHARSET=CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci
 Ensure you have log bin enabled on your external database.
 You may add the following configs to your conf.d directory and reload mysqld on your server
 ```
-vitess/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf
 vitess/config/mycnf/rbr.cnf
 ```
 
@@ -263,4 +262,4 @@ vitess/examples/compose$ ./lvtctl.sh ApplyVschema -vschema '{"sharded":false, "t
 ```
 </strike>
 This has since been fixed by  
-https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/pull/4868 & https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/pull/5010
\ No newline at end of file
+https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/pull/4868 & https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/pull/5010
diff --git a/examples/compose/external_db/docker-compose.yml b/examples/compose/external_db/docker-compose.yml
index 5b3b28f1f9e..b0b1e58f9fd 100644
--- a/examples/compose/external_db/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/examples/compose/external_db/docker-compose.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - vol-db:/var/lib/mysql
       - ./mysql/:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/
-      - ./mysql/master_mysql56.cnf:/etc/mysql/conf.d/master_mysql56.cnf
       - ./mysql/query.log:/var/log/mysql/query.log
       - ./mysql/slow.log:/var/log/mysql/slow.log
     healthcheck:
diff --git a/examples/compose/vttablet-up.sh b/examples/compose/vttablet-up.sh
index 00369ecdd22..3df619ce20a 100755
--- a/examples/compose/vttablet-up.sh
+++ b/examples/compose/vttablet-up.sh
@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@ if [ $tablet_role != "master" ]; then
 fi
 # Enforce Row Based Replication
 export EXTRA_MY_CNF=$VTROOT/config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf:$VTROOT/config/mycnf/rbr.cnf
-export EXTRA_MY_CNF=$EXTRA_MY_CNF:$VTROOT/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf
 
 mkdir -p $VTDATAROOT/backups
 
@@ -182,4 +181,4 @@ exec $VTROOT/bin/vttablet \
   -backup_storage_implementation file \
   -file_backup_storage_root $VTDATAROOT/backups \
   -queryserver-config-schema-reload-time 60 \
-  $external_db_args
\ No newline at end of file
+  $external_db_args
diff --git a/examples/kubernetes/vttablet-pod-benchmarking-template.yaml b/examples/kubernetes/vttablet-pod-benchmarking-template.yaml
index 8f24da64f54..f1cc59e7101 100644
--- a/examples/kubernetes/vttablet-pod-benchmarking-template.yaml
+++ b/examples/kubernetes/vttablet-pod-benchmarking-template.yaml
@@ -87,9 +87,6 @@ spec:
           -tablet_uid {{uid}}
           -socket_file $VTDATAROOT/mysqlctl.sock
           -init_db_sql_file $VTROOT/config/init_db.sql" vitess
-      env:
-        - name: EXTRA_MY_CNF
-          value: /vt/config/mycnf/benchmark.cnf:/vt/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf
   volumes:
     - name: syslog
       hostPath: {path: /dev/log}
diff --git a/examples/kubernetes/vttablet-pod-template.yaml b/examples/kubernetes/vttablet-pod-template.yaml
index 52e19aad80f..6be80409cae 100644
--- a/examples/kubernetes/vttablet-pod-template.yaml
+++ b/examples/kubernetes/vttablet-pod-template.yaml
@@ -69,9 +69,6 @@ spec:
           -orc_api_url http://orchestrator/api
           -orc_discover_interval 5m
           -restore_from_backup {{backup_flags}}" vitess
-      env:
-        - name: EXTRA_MY_CNF
-          value: /vt/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf
     - name: mysql
       image: {{vitess_image}}
       volumeMounts:
@@ -96,9 +93,6 @@ spec:
           -tablet_uid {{uid}}
           -socket_file $VTDATAROOT/mysqlctl.sock
           -init_db_sql_file $VTROOT/config/init_db.sql" vitess
-      env:
-        - name: EXTRA_MY_CNF
-          value: /vt/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf
   volumes:
     - name: syslog
       hostPath: {path: /dev/log}
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mycnf_test.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mycnf_test.go
index e7215f894fe..c8381a46af3 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mycnf_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mycnf_test.go
@@ -43,8 +43,6 @@ func TestMycnf(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	cnfTemplatePaths := []string{
 		path.Join(root, "src/vitess.io/vitess/config/mycnf/default.cnf"),
-		path.Join(root, "src/vitess.io/vitess/config/mycnf/replica.cnf"),
-		path.Join(root, "src/vitess.io/vitess/config/mycnf/master.cnf"),
 	}
 	data, err := cnf.makeMycnf(cnfTemplatePaths)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
index 84c000306c2..c5dc48a4b80 100644
--- a/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
+++ b/go/vt/mysqlctl/mysqld.go
@@ -798,8 +798,6 @@ func (mysqld *Mysqld) getMycnfTemplates(root string) []string {
 
 	cnfTemplatePaths := []string{
 		path.Join(root, "config/mycnf/default.cnf"),
-		path.Join(root, "config/mycnf/master.cnf"),
-		path.Join(root, "config/mycnf/replica.cnf"),
 	}
 
 	if extraCnf := os.Getenv("EXTRA_MY_CNF"); extraCnf != "" {
diff --git a/go/vt/vttest/environment.go b/go/vt/vttest/environment.go
index 336e92c3b06..551cc4e1d9b 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttest/environment.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttest/environment.go
@@ -115,23 +115,8 @@ func GetMySQLOptions(flavor string) (string, []string, error) {
 		flavor = DefaultMySQLFlavor
 	}
 
-	mycnf := []string{"config/mycnf/vtcombo.cnf"}
-	switch flavor {
-	case "MariaDB103":
-		mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf")
-		mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/master_mariadb103.cnf")
-	case "MariaDB":
-		mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf")
-		mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/master_mariadb100.cnf")
-	case "MySQL80":
-		mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf")
-		mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/master_mysql80.cnf")
-	case "MySQL56":
-		mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf")
-		mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf")
-	default:
-		return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("unknown mysql flavor: %s", flavor)
-	}
+	mycnf := []string{}
+	mycnf = append(mycnf, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf")
 
 	for i, cnf := range mycnf {
 		mycnf[i] = path.Join(os.Getenv("VTTOP"), cnf)
diff --git a/helm/vitess/README.md b/helm/vitess/README.md
index 8e884b60117..5ff807a552d 100644
--- a/helm/vitess/README.md
+++ b/helm/vitess/README.md
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ metadata:
 data:
   extra.cnf: |-
     early-plugin-load=keyring_vault=keyring_vault.so
-    # this includes default rpl plugins, see https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/blob/master/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf for details
+    # this includes default rpl plugins, see https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/blob/master/config/mycnf/master_mysql57.cnf for details
     plugin-load=rpl_semi_sync_master=semisync_master.so;rpl_semi_sync_slave=semisync_slave.so;keyring_udf=keyring_udf.so
     keyring_vault_config=/vt/usersecrets/vttablet-vault/vault.conf # load keyring configuration from secret
     innodb_encrypt_tables=ON # encrypt all tables by default
diff --git a/py/vttest/mysql_flavor.py b/py/vttest/mysql_flavor.py
index 26e8aaf3d49..3da1570e05d 100644
--- a/py/vttest/mysql_flavor.py
+++ b/py/vttest/mysql_flavor.py
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ class MariaDB(MysqlFlavor):
   def my_cnf(self):
     files = [
         os.path.join(vttop, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf"),
-        os.path.join(vttop, "config/mycnf/master_mariadb100.cnf"),
     ]
     return ":".join(files)
 
@@ -59,7 +58,6 @@ class MariaDB103(MysqlFlavor):
   def my_cnf(self):
     files = [
       os.path.join(vttop, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf"),
-      os.path.join(vttop, "config/mycnf/master_mariadb103.cnf"),
     ]
     return ":".join(files)
 
@@ -69,7 +67,6 @@ class MySQL56(MysqlFlavor):
   def my_cnf(self):
     files = [
         os.path.join(vttop, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf"),
-        os.path.join(vttop, "config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf"),
     ]
     return ":".join(files)
 
@@ -79,7 +76,6 @@ class MySQL80(MysqlFlavor):
   def my_cnf(self):
     files = [
         os.path.join(vttop, "config/mycnf/default-fast.cnf"),
-        os.path.join(vttop, "config/mycnf/master_mysql80.cnf"),
     ]
     return ":".join(files)
 
diff --git a/py/vttest/run_local_database.py b/py/vttest/run_local_database.py
index 8301a4e2b42..d25205e66b3 100755
--- a/py/vttest/run_local_database.py
+++ b/py/vttest/run_local_database.py
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ def main(cmdline_options):
     init_data_opts.max_table_shard_size = cmdline_options.max_table_shard_size
     init_data_opts.null_probability = cmdline_options.null_probability
 
-  extra_my_cnf = os.path.join(os.environ['VTTOP'], 'config/mycnf/vtcombo.cnf')
+  extra_my_cnf = ''
   if cmdline_options.extra_my_cnf:
     extra_my_cnf += ':' + cmdline_options.extra_my_cnf
 
diff --git a/test/config.json b/test/config.json
index 603e772de11..9523cbed562 100644
--- a/test/config.json
+++ b/test/config.json
@@ -590,7 +590,7 @@
 			"Args": [],
 			"Command": [],
 			"Manual": false,
-			"Shard": 2,
+			"Shard": 5,
 			"RetryMax": 0,
 			"Tags": [
 				"worker_test"
diff --git a/test/mysql_flavor.py b/test/mysql_flavor.py
index 9cf057982ea..8102ad0cfd1 100644
--- a/test/mysql_flavor.py
+++ b/test/mysql_flavor.py
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ def reset_replication_commands(self):
     ]
 
   def extra_my_cnf(self):
-    return environment.vttop + "/config/mycnf/master_mariadb100.cnf"
+    return ""
 
   def master_position(self, tablet):
     gtid = tablet.mquery("", "SELECT @@GLOBAL.gtid_binlog_pos")[0][0]
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ class MariaDB103(MariaDB):
   """Overrides specific to MariaDB 10.3+."""
 
   def extra_my_cnf(self):
-    return environment.vttop + "/config/mycnf/master_mariadb103.cnf"
+    return ""
 
 class MySQL56(MysqlFlavor):
   """Overrides specific to MySQL 5.6/5.7"""
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ def position_at_least(self, a, b):
     ]).strip() == "true"
 
   def extra_my_cnf(self):
-    return environment.vttop + "/config/mycnf/master_mysql56.cnf"
+    return ""
 
   def change_master_commands(self, host, port, pos):
     gtid = pos.split("/")[1]
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ def change_master_commands(self, host, port, pos):
 class MySQL80(MySQL56):
   """Overrides specific to MySQL 8.0."""
   def extra_my_cnf(self):
-    return environment.vttop + "/config/mycnf/master_mysql80.cnf"
+    return ""
   def change_passwords(self, password_col):
     """set real passwords for all users"""
     return '''