diff --git a/kubernetes/clusters/homelab/infrastructure.yaml b/kubernetes/clusters/homelab/infrastructure.yaml
index 5c2601c8..bfb44b30 100644
--- a/kubernetes/clusters/homelab/infrastructure.yaml
+++ b/kubernetes/clusters/homelab/infrastructure.yaml
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ spec:
       kind: HelmRelease
       name: cloudnative-pg # DB operator — seed jobs create databases
       namespace: database
+    - apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2
+      kind: HelmRelease
+      name: mariadb-operator # the MySQL half — WordPress can't use CNPG
+      namespace: database
   # decryption block dropped 2026-07-13: no *.sops.yaml left under this
   # path — secrets come from OpenBao via ESO (MIGRATION-sops-openbao.md).
 ---
diff --git a/kubernetes/infrastructure/kustomization.yaml b/kubernetes/infrastructure/kustomization.yaml
index 3b34a28a..b0a5a735 100644
--- a/kubernetes/infrastructure/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/kubernetes/infrastructure/kustomization.yaml
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ resources:
   - rook-ceph/
   - ceph-csi-drivers/
   - cloudnative-pg/
+  - mariadb-operator/
   - netbird-ingress/
   - netbird-backup/
   - coredns-config/
diff --git a/kubernetes/infrastructure/mariadb-operator/helmrelease.yaml b/kubernetes/infrastructure/mariadb-operator/helmrelease.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5299cb91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kubernetes/infrastructure/mariadb-operator/helmrelease.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+# MariaDB operator, for the one workload in this cluster that cannot use
+# CloudNativePG: WordPress. WordPress speaks MySQL natively — the PostgreSQL
+# route would mean pg4wp, an SQL-rewriting shim whose own README lists
+# WordPress 6.5.3 as its newest tested version while renner.uno runs 7.0.4.
+#
+# The charts are OCI artifacts (ghcr.io), so this follows the OCIRepository
+# pattern from infrastructure/spegel rather than the HelmRepository pattern
+# used for CNPG.
+#
+# CRDs ship as a SEPARATE chart that must be installed first — upstream is
+# explicit about the ordering, hence the dependsOn below rather than a single
+# release with crds: CreateReplace.
+apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: OCIRepository
+metadata:
+  name: mariadb-operator-crds
+  namespace: database
+spec:
+  interval: 24h
+  url: oci://ghcr.io/mariadb-operator/charts/mariadb-operator-crds
+  ref:
+    # Calendar versioning: the major is the year. Upstream ships an upgrade
+    # guide with each minor (Helm repo deprecations, registry moves), so the
+    # range is capped at the year boundary instead of the usual open ">=".
+    semver: ">=26.6.0 <27.0.0"
+---
+apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2
+kind: HelmRelease
+metadata:
+  name: mariadb-operator-crds
+  namespace: database
+spec:
+  interval: 30m
+  chartRef:
+    kind: OCIRepository
+    name: mariadb-operator-crds
+    namespace: database
+  install:
+    remediation:
+      retries: 3
+  upgrade:
+    remediation:
+      retries: 3
+---
+apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
+kind: OCIRepository
+metadata:
+  name: mariadb-operator
+  namespace: database
+spec:
+  interval: 24h
+  url: oci://ghcr.io/mariadb-operator/charts/mariadb-operator
+  ref:
+    semver: ">=26.6.0 <27.0.0"
+---
+apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2
+kind: HelmRelease
+metadata:
+  name: mariadb-operator
+  namespace: database
+spec:
+  interval: 30m
+  dependsOn:
+    - name: mariadb-operator-crds
+      namespace: database
+  chartRef:
+    kind: OCIRepository
+    name: mariadb-operator
+    namespace: database
+  install:
+    remediation:
+      retries: 3
+  upgrade:
+    remediation:
+      retries: 3
+  values:
+    # The operator watches all namespaces; the MariaDB CR itself lives with
+    # the app in kubernetes/apps/wordpress/, mirroring how CNPG Clusters sit
+    # in their consumer's namespace (ak-pg in authentik, im-pg in immich).
+    metrics:
+      enabled: false
diff --git a/kubernetes/infrastructure/mariadb-operator/kustomization.yaml b/kubernetes/infrastructure/mariadb-operator/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4fd939d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kubernetes/infrastructure/mariadb-operator/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+  - helmrelease.yaml
diff --git a/kubernetes/infrastructure/namespaces/namespaces.yaml b/kubernetes/infrastructure/namespaces/namespaces.yaml
index f35185f9..79058429 100644
--- a/kubernetes/infrastructure/namespaces/namespaces.yaml
+++ b/kubernetes/infrastructure/namespaces/namespaces.yaml
@@ -151,3 +151,12 @@ apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
   name: trmnl
+---
+# WordPress for www.renner.uno, migrated off the Hetzner VM `wordpress-hochzeit`.
+# No privileged label needed: the cluster enforces `baseline`, which permits the
+# official Apache image's root master process binding :80. It does trip the
+# `restricted` audit/warn level — that is expected and not an error.
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: wordpress
diff --git a/kubernetes/infrastructure/post-crds/openbao-clustersecretstore.yaml b/kubernetes/infrastructure/post-crds/openbao-clustersecretstore.yaml
index f2cee8b1..5c8cfb6e 100644
--- a/kubernetes/infrastructure/post-crds/openbao-clustersecretstore.yaml
+++ b/kubernetes/infrastructure/post-crds/openbao-clustersecretstore.yaml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ spec:
         - paperless
         - trmnl
         - velero
+        - wordpress
   provider:
     vault: # ESO's provider name; speaks OpenBao fine
       server: http://openbao.openbao.svc.cluster.local:8200
diff --git a/opentofu/object_storage.tf b/opentofu/object_storage.tf
index 2e0ac753..99f8443b 100644
--- a/opentofu/object_storage.tf
+++ b/opentofu/object_storage.tf
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ locals {
     "renner-uno-k8s-velero",  # Velero PVC backups (Kopia data mover)
     "renner-uno-k8s-secrets", # SOPS talosconfig/kubeconfig for cluster bootstrap
     "renner-uno-tfstate",     # OpenTofu remote state (migrated off the nas-1 Garage S3)
+    "renner-uno-k8s-mariadb", # mariadb-operator logical dumps (wordpress-mariadb)
   ]
 }
 
@@ -95,8 +96,9 @@ locals {
   # precedent in this repo — left uncapped (keep every version) since
   # storage cost there is negligible.
   hetzner_buckets_noncurrent_expiry_days = {
-    "renner-uno-k8s-cnpg"   = 30
-    "renner-uno-k8s-velero" = 30
+    "renner-uno-k8s-cnpg"    = 30
+    "renner-uno-k8s-velero"  = 30
+    "renner-uno-k8s-mariadb" = 30 # Backup maxRetention: 720h (kubernetes/apps/wordpress/mariadb.yaml)
   }
 }