diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index accc30d..7a27f03 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -9,13 +9,10 @@ WORKDIR /app
 
 # Install system dependencies
 # WeasyPrint needs: libpango-1.0-0 libpangoft2-1.0-0 libharfbuzz-subset0 libjpeg-dev libopenjp2-7-dev libxcb1
-# MySQLclient needs: default-libmysqlclient-dev gcc pkg-config
-# MariaDB Client is added to ensure all authentication plugins (like mysql_native_password) are available for MariaDB 11
+# PyMySQL does not need libmysqlclient-dev, but we keep basic build tools
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
     gcc \
     pkg-config \
-    default-libmysqlclient-dev \
-    mariadb-client \
     libpango-1.0-0 \
     libpangoft2-1.0-0 \
     libharfbuzz-subset0 \
@@ -40,4 +37,4 @@ RUN chmod +x /app/entrypoint.sh
 EXPOSE 8000
 
 # Entrypoint
-ENTRYPOINT ["/app/entrypoint.sh"]
\ No newline at end of file
+ENTRYPOINT ["/app/entrypoint.sh"]
diff --git a/config/__init__.py b/config/__init__.py
index e69de29..9c0f756 100644
--- a/config/__init__.py
+++ b/config/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+import pymysql
+
+pymysql.install_as_MySQLdb()
diff --git a/config/wsgi.py b/config/wsgi.py
index e2fbd58..05c92fe 100644
--- a/config/wsgi.py
+++ b/config/wsgi.py
@@ -8,9 +8,12 @@ https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/howto/deployment/wsgi/
 """
 
 import os
+import pymysql
+
+pymysql.install_as_MySQLdb()
 
 from django.core.wsgi import get_wsgi_application
 
 os.environ.setdefault('DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE', 'config.settings')
 
-application = get_wsgi_application()
+application = get_wsgi_application()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/management/commands/wait_for_db.py b/core/management/commands/wait_for_db.py
index cee1a06..5543050 100644
--- a/core/management/commands/wait_for_db.py
+++ b/core/management/commands/wait_for_db.py
@@ -16,6 +16,15 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         db_conf = settings.DATABASES['default']
         self.stdout.write(f"Debug Info - Host: {db_conf.get('HOST')}, Port: {db_conf.get('PORT')}, Name: {db_conf.get('NAME')}, User: {db_conf.get('USER')}")
 
+        # DEBUG: Check which MySQLdb is loaded
+        try:
+            import MySQLdb
+            self.stdout.write(f"DEBUG: MySQLdb module is: {MySQLdb}")
+            if hasattr(MySQLdb, '__file__'):
+                 self.stdout.write(f"DEBUG: MySQLdb location: {MySQLdb.__file__}")
+        except ImportError:
+            self.stdout.write("DEBUG: MySQLdb module could NOT be imported.")
+
         self.stdout.write('Waiting for database...')
         db_conn = None
         for i in range(30):  # Retry for 30 seconds
@@ -41,4 +50,4 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
                  self.stdout.write(self.style.WARNING(f'Database error: {e}, waiting 1 second...'))
                  time.sleep(1)
         
-        self.stdout.write(self.style.ERROR('Database unavailable after 30 seconds.'))
+        self.stdout.write(self.style.ERROR('Database unavailable after 30 seconds.'))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/manage.py b/manage.py
index 8e7ac79..ff3cff4 100755
--- a/manage.py
+++ b/manage.py
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 """Django's command-line utility for administrative tasks."""
 import os
 import sys
+import pymysql
+
+pymysql.install_as_MySQLdb()
 
 
 def main():
@@ -19,4 +22,4 @@ def main():
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    main()
+    main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index acabb89..206132a 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 Django==5.2.7
-mysqlclient==2.2.7
+pymysql
+cryptography
 python-dotenv==1.1.1
 Pillow
 weasyprint
@@ -10,4 +11,4 @@ drf-yasg
 gunicorn==22.0.0
 django-cors-headers
 django-admin-rangefilter
-requests
+requests
\ No newline at end of file