diff --git a/data_diff/databases/mysql.py b/data_diff/databases/mysql.py
index 1ee04460..72665dee 100644
--- a/data_diff/databases/mysql.py
+++ b/data_diff/databases/mysql.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     Float,
     Decimal,
     Integer,
+    JSON,
     Text,
     TemporalType,
     FractionalType,
@@ -68,6 +69,8 @@ class Dialect(BaseDialect):
         "tinytext": Text,
         # Boolean
         "boolean": Boolean,
+        # JSON
+        "json": JSON,
     }
 
     def quote(self, s: str) -> str:
diff --git a/data_diff/utils.py b/data_diff/utils.py
index 1d1405fd..1ad9fbac 100644
--- a/data_diff/utils.py
+++ b/data_diff/utils.py
@@ -512,10 +512,20 @@ def diff_int_dynamic_color_template(diff_value: int) -> str:
         return "0"
 
 
-def _jsons_equiv(a: str, b: str):
+def _jsons_equiv(a: Optional[str], b: Optional[str]):
+    # Treat Python None (DB null) as the JSON null literal so that a NULL on
+    # the MySQL side matches a 'null' string produced by TO_JSON_STRING(NULL)
+    # on the BigQuery side (or any other DB that serializes NULL as 'null').
+    if a is None:
+        a = "null"
+    if b is None:
+        b = "null"
+    # Fast-path: identical strings don't need JSON parsing.
+    if a == b:
+        return True
     try:
         return json.loads(a) == json.loads(b)
-    except (ValueError, TypeError, json.decoder.JSONDecodeError):  # not valid jsons
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):  # covers json.JSONDecodeError (subclass of ValueError)
         return False
 
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index dd2b0523..cbc3aa75 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 preql = ["preql>=0.2.19"]
-mysql = ["mysql-connector-python==8.0.29"]
+mysql = ["mysql-connector-python>=8.0.29"]
 postgresql = ["psycopg2"]
 redshift = ["psycopg2"]
 snowflake = ["snowflake-connector-python>=3.0.2,<4.0.0", "cryptography"]
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ duckdb = ["duckdb"]
 bigquery = ["google-cloud-bigquery"]
 all-dbs = [
   "preql>=0.2.19",
-  "mysql-connector-python==8.0.29",
+  "mysql-connector-python>=8.0.29",
   "psycopg2",
   "snowflake-connector-python>=3.0.2,<4.0.0",
   "cryptography",
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 712f3467..613c0b03 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
     columns_removed_template,
     columns_added_template,
     columns_type_changed_template,
+    _jsons_equiv,
 )
 
 from data_diff.__main__ import _remove_passwords_in_dict
@@ -211,3 +212,43 @@ def test_columns_type_changed_template(self):
         output = columns_type_changed_template({"column1", "column2"})
         self.assertIn("Type changed [2]: [green]", output)
         self.assertEqual(self.extract_columns_set(output), {"column1", "column2"})
+
+
+class TestJsonsEquiv(unittest.TestCase):
+    # --- None / null equivalence ---
+    def test_both_none(self):
+        """Two DB NULLs are equivalent."""
+        self.assertTrue(_jsons_equiv(None, None))
+
+    def test_none_vs_json_null_string(self):
+        """DB NULL on one side, JSON 'null' string on the other, are equivalent."""
+        self.assertTrue(_jsons_equiv(None, "null"))
+        self.assertTrue(_jsons_equiv("null", None))
+
+    def test_none_vs_json_string_null(self):
+        """DB NULL must NOT equal the JSON string literal \"null\"."""
+        self.assertFalse(_jsons_equiv(None, '"null"'))
+        self.assertFalse(_jsons_equiv('"null"', None))
+
+    # --- Identical strings fast-path ---
+    def test_identical_strings(self):
+        self.assertTrue(_jsons_equiv('{"a": 1}', '{"a": 1}'))
+
+    # --- Semantic JSON equivalence ---
+    def test_equivalent_objects_different_whitespace(self):
+        self.assertTrue(_jsons_equiv('{"a":1,"b":2}', '{"b": 2, "a": 1}'))
+
+    def test_equivalent_arrays(self):
+        self.assertTrue(_jsons_equiv("[1, 2, 3]", "[1,2,3]"))
+
+    def test_different_values(self):
+        self.assertFalse(_jsons_equiv('{"a": 1}', '{"a": 2}'))
+
+    def test_different_types(self):
+        self.assertFalse(_jsons_equiv("1", '"1"'))
+
+    # --- Invalid JSON ---
+    def test_invalid_json_returns_false(self):
+        # Different invalid-JSON strings → False (can't parse either side)
+        self.assertFalse(_jsons_equiv("not-json", "also-not-json"))
+        self.assertFalse(_jsons_equiv('{"a": 1}', "not-json"))
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index eff8aea1..f367694d 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -949,8 +949,8 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "google-cloud-bigquery", marker = "extra == 'bigquery'" },
     { name = "keyring" },
     { name = "mashumaro", extras = ["msgpack"], specifier = ">=2.9,<3.11.0" },
-    { name = "mysql-connector-python", marker = "extra == 'all-dbs'", specifier = "==8.0.29" },
-    { name = "mysql-connector-python", marker = "extra == 'mysql'", specifier = "==8.0.29" },
+    { name = "mysql-connector-python", marker = "extra == 'all-dbs'", specifier = ">=8.0.29" },
+    { name = "mysql-connector-python", marker = "extra == 'mysql'", specifier = ">=8.0.29" },
     { name = "oracledb", marker = "extra == 'all-dbs'" },
     { name = "oracledb", marker = "extra == 'oracle'" },
     { name = "preql", marker = "extra == 'all-dbs'", specifier = ">=0.2.19" },