diff --git a/django/__init__.py b/django/__init__.py
index ba72922c740b..3fadcb44af81 100644
--- a/django/__init__.py
+++ b/django/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from django.utils.version import get_version
 
-VERSION = (2, 2, 29, 'alpha', 0)
+VERSION = (2, 2, 30, 'alpha', 0)
 
 __version__ = get_version(VERSION)
 
diff --git a/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py b/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
index 3764c9f4a027..526132c0beed 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/mysql/base.py
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@
 from .validation import DatabaseValidation                  # isort:skip
 
 version = Database.version_info
-if version < (1, 3, 13):
-    raise ImproperlyConfigured('mysqlclient 1.3.13 or newer is required; you have %s.' % Database.__version__)
+# if version < (1, 3, 13):
+#     raise ImproperlyConfigured('mysqlclient 1.3.13 or newer is required; you have %s.' % Database.__version__)
 
 
 # MySQLdb returns TIME columns as timedelta -- they are more like timedelta in
diff --git a/django/db/backends/mysql/operations.py b/django/db/backends/mysql/operations.py
index 250a004e0531..adce7ac3aea8 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/mysql/operations.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/mysql/operations.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from django.db.backends.base.operations import BaseDatabaseOperations
 from django.utils import timezone
 from django.utils.duration import duration_microseconds
+from django.utils.encoding import force_str
 
 
 class DatabaseOperations(BaseDatabaseOperations):
@@ -141,10 +142,8 @@ def last_executed_query(self, cursor, sql, params):
         # With MySQLdb, cursor objects have an (undocumented) "_executed"
         # attribute where the exact query sent to the database is saved.
         # See MySQLdb/cursors.py in the source distribution.
-        query = getattr(cursor, '_executed', None)
-        if query is not None:
-            query = query.encode(errors='replace')
-        return query
+        # MySQLdb returns string, PyMySQL bytes.
+        return force_str(getattr(cursor, '_last_executed', None), errors='replace')
 
     def no_limit_value(self):
         # 2**64 - 1, as recommended by the MySQL documentation
diff --git a/django/db/backends/mysql/schema.py b/django/db/backends/mysql/schema.py
index 65d1f2442932..a4d339d73a7d 100644
--- a/django/db/backends/mysql/schema.py
+++ b/django/db/backends/mysql/schema.py
@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ class DatabaseSchemaEditor(BaseDatabaseSchemaEditor):
 
     def quote_value(self, value):
         self.connection.ensure_connection()
+        # MySQLdb escapes to string, PyMySQL to bytes.
         quoted = self.connection.connection.escape(value, self.connection.connection.encoders)
-        if isinstance(value, str):
+        if isinstance(value, str) and isinstance(quoted, bytes):
             quoted = quoted.decode()
         return quoted