diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/pom.xml b/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/pom.xml
index 0ffd48dfb3c..a0de1f5bdc8 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/pom.xml
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/pom.xml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     <derby.version>10.12.1.1</derby.version>
     <h2.version>1.4.191</h2.version>
     <hsqldb.version>2.3.3</hsqldb.version>
-    <mariadb.version>1.3.5</mariadb.version>
+    <mariadb.version>1.4.6</mariadb.version>
     <mysql.version>8.0.13</mysql.version>
     <postgresql.version>9.4.1212</postgresql.version>
     <sqlite.version>3.16.1</sqlite.version>
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/src/main/java/org/openhab/persistence/jdbc/db/JdbcBaseDAO.java b/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/src/main/java/org/openhab/persistence/jdbc/db/JdbcBaseDAO.java
index 8f97f8bae2d..441b1958208 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/src/main/java/org/openhab/persistence/jdbc/db/JdbcBaseDAO.java
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/src/main/java/org/openhab/persistence/jdbc/db/JdbcBaseDAO.java
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 public class JdbcBaseDAO {
     private final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(JdbcBaseDAO.class);
 
-    public Properties databaseProps = new Properties();
+    public final Properties databaseProps = new Properties();
     protected String urlSuffix = "";
-    public Map<String, String> sqlTypes = new HashMap<>();
+    public final Map<String, String> sqlTypes = new HashMap<>();
 
     // Get Database Meta data
     protected DbMetaData dbMeta;
@@ -318,12 +318,12 @@ public class JdbcBaseDAO {
     }
 
     public void doStoreItemValue(Item item, ItemVO vo) {
-        vo = storeItemValueProvider(item, vo);
+        ItemVO storedVO = storeItemValueProvider(item, vo);
         String sql = StringUtilsExt.replaceArrayMerge(sqlInsertItemValue,
                 new String[] { "#tableName#", "#tablePrimaryValue#" },
-                new String[] { vo.getTableName(), sqlTypes.get("tablePrimaryValue") });
-        Object[] params = new Object[] { vo.getValue(), vo.getValue() };
-        logger.debug("JDBC::doStoreItemValue sql={} value='{}'", sql, vo.getValue());
+                new String[] { storedVO.getTableName(), sqlTypes.get("tablePrimaryValue") });
+        Object[] params = new Object[] { storedVO.getValue(), storedVO.getValue() };
+        logger.debug("JDBC::doStoreItemValue sql={} value='{}'", sql, storedVO.getValue());
         Yank.execute(sql, params);
     }
 
@@ -402,17 +402,17 @@ public class JdbcBaseDAO {
             String it = getSqlTypes().get(itemType);
             if (it.toUpperCase().contains("DOUBLE")) {
                 vo.setValueTypes(it, java.lang.Double.class);
-                Number newVal = ((DecimalType) item.getState());
+                Number newVal = (Number) item.getState();
                 logger.debug("JDBC::storeItemValueProvider: newVal.doubleValue: '{}'", newVal.doubleValue());
                 vo.setValue(newVal.doubleValue());
             } else if (it.toUpperCase().contains("DECIMAL") || it.toUpperCase().contains("NUMERIC")) {
                 vo.setValueTypes(it, java.math.BigDecimal.class);
-                DecimalType newVal = ((DecimalType) item.getState());
+                DecimalType newVal = (DecimalType) item.getState();
                 logger.debug("JDBC::storeItemValueProvider: newVal.toBigDecimal: '{}'", newVal.toBigDecimal());
                 vo.setValue(newVal.toBigDecimal());
             } else if (it.toUpperCase().contains("INT")) {
                 vo.setValueTypes(it, java.lang.Integer.class);
-                Number newVal = ((DecimalType) item.getState());
+                Number newVal = (Number) item.getState();
                 logger.debug("JDBC::storeItemValueProvider: newVal.intValue: '{}'", newVal.intValue());
                 vo.setValue(newVal.intValue());
             } else {// fall back to String
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ public class JdbcBaseDAO {
             }
         } else if ("ROLLERSHUTTERITEM".equals(itemType) || "DIMMERITEM".equals(itemType)) {
             vo.setValueTypes(getSqlTypes().get(itemType), java.lang.Integer.class);
-            Number newVal = ((DecimalType) item.getState());
+            Number newVal = (DecimalType) item.getState();
             logger.debug("JDBC::storeItemValueProvider: newVal.intValue: '{}'", newVal.intValue());
             vo.setValue(newVal.intValue());
         } else if ("DATETIMEITEM".equals(itemType)) {
diff --git a/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/src/main/java/org/openhab/persistence/jdbc/internal/JdbcConfiguration.java b/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/src/main/java/org/openhab/persistence/jdbc/internal/JdbcConfiguration.java
index 05f3a8975b5..f74db9cd228 100644
--- a/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/src/main/java/org/openhab/persistence/jdbc/internal/JdbcConfiguration.java
+++ b/bundles/org.openhab.persistence.jdbc/src/main/java/org/openhab/persistence/jdbc/internal/JdbcConfiguration.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
  */
 package org.openhab.persistence.jdbc.internal;
 
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Enumeration;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -243,12 +244,11 @@ public class JdbcConfiguration {
 
         logger.debug("JDBC::updateConfig: Init Data Access Object Class: '{}'", ddp);
         try {
-            dBDAO = (JdbcBaseDAO) Class.forName(ddp).newInstance();
+            dBDAO = (JdbcBaseDAO) Class.forName(ddp).getConstructor().newInstance();
             logger.debug("JDBC::updateConfig: dBDAO ClassName={}", dBDAO.getClass().getName());
-        } catch (InstantiationException e) {
-            logger.error("JDBC::updateConfig: InstantiationException: {}", e.getMessage());
-        } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
-            logger.error("JDBC::updateConfig: IllegalAccessException: {}", e.getMessage());
+        } catch (IllegalAccessException | InstantiationException | InvocationTargetException
+                | NoSuchMethodException e) {
+            logger.error("JDBC::updateConfig: Exception: {}", e.getMessage());
         } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
             logger.warn("JDBC::updateConfig: no Configuration for serviceName '{}' found. ClassNotFoundException: {}",
                     serviceName, e.getMessage());
@@ -294,21 +294,21 @@ public class JdbcConfiguration {
                     e.getMessage());
             String warn = ""
                     + "\n\n\t!!!\n\tTo avoid this error, place an appropriate JDBC driver file for serviceName '{}' in addons directory.\n"
-                    + "\tCopy missing JDBC-Driver-jar to your OpenHab/addons Folder.\n\t!!!\n" + "\tDOWNLOAD: \n";
+                    + "\tCopy missing JDBC-Driver-jar to your openHab/addons Folder.\n\t!!!\n" + "\tDOWNLOAD: \n";
             if (serviceName.equals("derby")) {
-                warn += "\tDerby:     version >= 10.11.1.1 from          http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.apache.derby/derby\n";
+                warn += "\tDerby:     version >= 10.11.1.1 from          https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.apache.derby/derby\n";
             } else if (serviceName.equals("h2")) {
-                warn += "\tH2:        version >= 1.4.189 from            http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.h2database/h2\n";
+                warn += "\tH2:        version >= 1.4.189 from            https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.h2database/h2\n";
             } else if (serviceName.equals("hsqldb")) {
-                warn += "\tHSQLDB:    version >= 2.3.3 from              http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.hsqldb/hsqldb\n";
+                warn += "\tHSQLDB:    version >= 2.3.3 from              https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.hsqldb/hsqldb\n";
             } else if (serviceName.equals("mariadb")) {
-                warn += "\tMariaDB:   version >= 1.2.0 from              http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.mariadb.jdbc/mariadb-java-client\n";
+                warn += "\tMariaDB:   version >= 1.2.0 from              https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.mariadb.jdbc/mariadb-java-client\n";
             } else if (serviceName.equals("mysql")) {
-                warn += "\tMySQL:     version >= 5.1.36 from             http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/mysql/mysql-connector-java\n";
+                warn += "\tMySQL:     version >= 5.1.36 from             https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/mysql/mysql-connector-java\n";
             } else if (serviceName.equals("postgresql")) {
-                warn += "\tPostgreSQL:version >= 9.4.1208 from    http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.postgresql/postgresql\n";
+                warn += "\tPostgreSQL:version >= 9.4.1208 from           https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.postgresql/postgresql\n";
             } else if (serviceName.equals("sqlite")) {
-                warn += "\tSQLite:    version >= 3.16.1 from           http://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.xerial/sqlite-jdbc\n";
+                warn += "\tSQLite:    version >= 3.16.1 from             https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.xerial/sqlite-jdbc\n";
             }
             logger.warn(warn, serviceName);
         }