diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 783a8b9..4877aed 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -151,7 +151,9 @@ dependencies {
     // modImplementation project(":myproject")
 
     // embedd the JDBC driver in the mod using jarJar
-    runtimeOnly "com.mysql:mysql-connector-j:${jdbc_version}"
+    // JDBC driver auto-detection is broken in Forge as of v47.4.0
+    // i.e. we need to need it both at compile and runtime
+    implementation "com.mysql:mysql-connector-j:${jdbc_version}"
     jarJar "com.mysql:mysql-connector-j:${jdbc_version}"
     additionalRuntimeClasspath "com.mysql:mysql-connector-j:${jdbc_version}"
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/vip/fubuki/playersync/PlayerSync.java b/src/main/java/vip/fubuki/playersync/PlayerSync.java
index fa3dc65..1e84591 100644
--- a/src/main/java/vip/fubuki/playersync/PlayerSync.java
+++ b/src/main/java/vip/fubuki/playersync/PlayerSync.java
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@ import vip.fubuki.playersync.sync.VanillaSync;
 import vip.fubuki.playersync.util.JDBCsetUp;
 
 import java.sql.Connection;
+import java.sql.DriverManager;
 import java.sql.ResultSet;
 import java.sql.SQLException;
 import java.sql.Statement;
+import com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver;
 
 @Mod(PlayerSync.MODID)
 public class PlayerSync {
@@ -34,6 +36,14 @@ public class PlayerSync {
     }
 
     private void commonSetup(final FMLCommonSetupEvent event) {
+        // JDBC driver auto-detection is broken in Forge as of v47.4.0
+        // We need to register the driver manually
+        try {
+            DriverManager.registerDriver(new Driver());
+        } catch (SQLException e) {
+            LOGGER.error("Unable to register JDBC MySQL driver", e);
+        }
+
         VanillaSync.register();
         if (JdbcConfig.SYNC_CHAT.get()) {
             ChatSync.register();