diff --git a/include/dblayer/functions_mysqli.inc.php b/include/dblayer/functions_mysqli.inc.php
index 6f8c6d683..ed2e8d738 100644
--- a/include/dblayer/functions_mysqli.inc.php
+++ b/include/dblayer/functions_mysqli.inc.php
@@ -128,6 +128,15 @@ function pwg_query($query)
 {
   global $mysqli, $conf, $page, $debug, $t2;
 
+  // starting with MySQL 8, rank becomes a reserved keyword, we need to escape it
+  if (preg_match('/\brank\b/', $query))
+  {
+    // first we unescape what's already escaped (to avoid double escaping)
+    $query = preg_replace('/`rank`/', 'rank', $query);
+    // then we escape the keyword
+    $query = preg_replace('/\brank\b/', '`rank`', $query);
+  }
+
   $start = microtime(true);
   ($result = $mysqli->query($query)) or my_error($query, $conf['die_on_sql_error']);