diff --git a/src/Config/Settings.php b/src/Config/Settings.php
index aa1acdad86..8be91cdf54 100644
--- a/src/Config/Settings.php
+++ b/src/Config/Settings.php
@@ -1832,10 +1832,10 @@ final class Settings
     /**
      * You can select here which functions will be used for character set conversion.
      * Possible values are:
-     *      auto   - automatically use available one (first is tested iconv, then mbstring)
-     *      iconv  - use iconv or libiconv functions
-     *      mb     - use mbstring extension
-     *      none   - disable encoding conversion
+     *      auto     - automatically use available one (first is tested iconv, then mbstring)
+     *      iconv    - use iconv or libiconv functions
+     *      mbstring - use mbstring extension
+     *      none     - disable encoding conversion
      *
      * ```php
      * $cfg['RecodingEngine'] = 'auto';
@@ -1843,7 +1843,7 @@ final class Settings
      *
      * @link https://docs.phpmyadmin.net/en/latest/config.html#cfg_RecodingEngine
      *
-     * @psalm-var 'auto'|'iconv'|'mb'|'none'
+     * @psalm-var 'auto'|'iconv'|'mbstring'|'none'
      */
     public string $RecodingEngine;
 
@@ -4656,7 +4656,7 @@ final class Settings
     /**
      * @param array<int|string, mixed> $settings
      *
-     * @psalm-return 'auto'|'iconv'|'mb'|'none'
+     * @psalm-return 'auto'|'iconv'|'mbstring'|'none'
      */
     private function setRecodingEngine(array $settings): string
     {
@@ -4667,6 +4667,10 @@ final class Settings
             return 'auto';
         }
 
+        if ($settings['RecodingEngine'] === 'mb') {
+            return 'mbstring';
+        }
+
         return $settings['RecodingEngine'];
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Encoding.php b/src/Encoding.php
index e9b0f48c0e..9a7bdb6e43 100644
--- a/src/Encoding.php
+++ b/src/Encoding.php
@@ -32,27 +32,16 @@ use function unlink;
  */
 class Encoding
 {
-    /**
-     * None encoding conversion engine
-     */
-    public const ENGINE_NONE = 0;
-
-    /**
-     * iconv encoding conversion engine
-     */
-    public const ENGINE_ICONV = 1;
-
-    /**
-     * mbstring encoding conversion engine
-     */
-    public const ENGINE_MB = 3;
+    public const ENGINE_NONE = 'none';
+    public const ENGINE_ICONV = 'iconv';
+    public const ENGINE_MBSTRING = 'mbstring';
 
     /**
      * Chosen encoding engine
      *
-     * @var self::ENGINE_NONE|self::ENGINE_ICONV|self::ENGINE_MB|null
+     * @var self::ENGINE_NONE|self::ENGINE_ICONV|self::ENGINE_MBSTRING|null
      */
-    private static int|null $engine = null;
+    private static string|null $engine = null;
 
     /**
      * Map of conversion engine configurations
@@ -64,15 +53,15 @@ class Encoding
      * - extension name to warn when missing
      */
     private const ENGINE_MAP = [
-        'iconv' => ['iconv', self::ENGINE_ICONV, 'iconv'],
-        'mb' => ['mb_convert_encoding', self::ENGINE_MB, 'mbstring'],
-        'none' => ['isset', self::ENGINE_NONE, ''],
+        'iconv' => 'iconv',
+        'mbstring' => 'mb_convert_encoding',
+        'none' => 'isset',
     ];
 
     /**
      * Order of automatic detection of engines
      */
-    private const ENGINE_ORDER = ['iconv', 'mb'];
+    private const ENGINE_ORDER = ['iconv', 'mbstring'];
 
     /**
      * Kanji encodings list
@@ -88,19 +77,19 @@ class Encoding
 
         /* Use user configuration */
         if (isset(self::ENGINE_MAP[$engine])) {
-            if (function_exists(self::ENGINE_MAP[$engine][0])) {
-                self::$engine = self::ENGINE_MAP[$engine][1];
+            if (function_exists(self::ENGINE_MAP[$engine])) {
+                self::$engine = $engine;
 
                 return;
             }
 
-            Core::warnMissingExtension(self::ENGINE_MAP[$engine][2]);
+            Core::warnMissingExtension($engine);
         }
 
         /* Autodetection */
         foreach (self::ENGINE_ORDER as $engine) {
-            if (function_exists(self::ENGINE_MAP[$engine][0])) {
-                self::$engine = self::ENGINE_MAP[$engine][1];
+            if (function_exists(self::ENGINE_MAP[$engine])) {
+                self::$engine = $engine;
 
                 return;
             }
@@ -113,9 +102,9 @@ class Encoding
     /**
      * Setter for engine. Use with caution, mostly useful for testing.
      *
-     * @param self::ENGINE_NONE|self::ENGINE_ICONV|self::ENGINE_MB $engine
+     * @param self::ENGINE_NONE|self::ENGINE_ICONV|self::ENGINE_MBSTRING $engine
      */
-    public static function setEngine(int $engine): void
+    public static function setEngine(string $engine): void
     {
         self::$engine = $engine;
     }
@@ -163,7 +152,7 @@ class Encoding
 
         return match (self::$engine) {
             self::ENGINE_ICONV => iconv($srcCharset, $destCharset . $iconvExtraParams, $what),
-            self::ENGINE_MB => mb_convert_encoding($what, $destCharset, $srcCharset),
+            self::ENGINE_MBSTRING => mb_convert_encoding($what, $destCharset, $srcCharset),
             default => $what,
         };
     }
@@ -301,7 +290,7 @@ class Encoding
     /**
      * Lists available encodings.
      *
-     * @return mixed[]
+     * @return string[]
      */
     public static function listEncodings(): array
     {
@@ -311,7 +300,7 @@ class Encoding
 
         /* Most engines do not support listing */
         $config = Config::getInstance();
-        if (self::$engine != self::ENGINE_MB) {
+        if (self::$engine != self::ENGINE_MBSTRING) {
             return array_filter($config->settings['AvailableCharsets'], static function (string $charset): bool {
                 // Removes any ignored character
                 $normalizedCharset = strtoupper((string) preg_replace(['/[^A-Za-z0-9\-\/]/'], '', $charset));
diff --git a/tests/unit/Config/SettingsTest.php b/tests/unit/Config/SettingsTest.php
index cf55b2404f..fa757dfd59 100644
--- a/tests/unit/Config/SettingsTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/Config/SettingsTest.php
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ class SettingsTest extends TestCase
                     ['DefaultTabServer', 'status', '/server/status'],
                     ['DefaultTabDatabase', 'search', '/database/search'],
                     ['DefaultTabTable', 'search', '/table/search'],
-                    ['RecodingEngine', 'mb', 'mb'],
+                    ['RecodingEngine', 'mb', 'mbstring'],
                     ['RowActionLinks', 'both', 'both'],
                 ],
             ],
diff --git a/tests/unit/EncodingTest.php b/tests/unit/EncodingTest.php
index 09bdf46d7f..1f5dfc78f3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/EncodingTest.php
+++ b/tests/unit/EncodingTest.php
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ class EncodingTest extends AbstractTestCase
 
     public function testMbstring(): void
     {
-        Encoding::setEngine(Encoding::ENGINE_MB);
+        Encoding::setEngine(Encoding::ENGINE_MBSTRING);
         self::assertSame(
             "This is the Euro symbol '?'.",
             Encoding::convertString(