diff --git a/lib/mysql.js b/lib/mysql.js
index c298b4f..9debd5e 100644
--- a/lib/mysql.js
+++ b/lib/mysql.js
@@ -306,6 +306,7 @@ MySQL.prototype.toDatabase = function (prop, val) {
         return this.toDatabase(prop, val);
       }
     }
+    return this.toDatabase(prop, val);
   }
   if (!prop) {
     return this.client.escape(val);
@@ -634,7 +635,7 @@ MySQL.prototype.autoupdate = function (models, cb) {
       wait++;
       self.query('SHOW FIELDS FROM ' + self.tableEscaped(model), function (err, fields) {
         self.query('SHOW INDEXES FROM ' + self.tableEscaped(model), function (err, indexes) {
-          if (!err && fields.length) {
+          if (!err && fields && fields.length) {
             self.alterTable(model, fields, indexes, done);
           } else {
             self.createTable(model, done);
@@ -980,10 +981,12 @@ function datatype(p) {
   switch (p.type.name) {
     default:
     case 'String':
-    case 'JSON':
       dt = columnType(p, 'VARCHAR');
       dt = stringOptionsByType(p, dt);
       break;
+    case 'JSON':
+    case 'Object':
+    case 'Any':
     case 'Text':
       dt = columnType(p, 'TEXT');
       dt = stringOptionsByType(p, dt);
@@ -1023,7 +1026,8 @@ function stringOptionsByType(p, dt) {
     default:
     case 'varchar':
       // The maximum length for an ID column is 1000 bytes
-      var len = p.limit || ((p.type !== String) ? 32768 : p.id ? 255: 1024);
+      // The maximum row size is 64K
+      var len = p.limit || ((p.type !== String) ? 8192 : p.id ? 255: 1024);
       dt += '(' + len + ')';
       break;
     case 'char':
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b4cc7d8..b17917f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "loopback-connector-mysql",
-  "version": "1.3.0",
+  "version": "1.4.0",
   "description": "MySQL connector for loopback-datasource-juggler",
   "main": "index.js",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/test/mysql.test.js b/test/mysql.test.js
index e81f97b..b5c4e03 100644
--- a/test/mysql.test.js
+++ b/test/mysql.test.js
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ describe('mysql', function () {
     Post = db.define('PostWithDefaultId', {
       title: { type: String, length: 255, index: true },
       content: { type: String },
+      comments: [String],
+      history: Object,
       stars: Number
     });
 
@@ -33,6 +35,26 @@ describe('mysql', function () {
     });
   });
 
+  it('should allow array or object', function (done) {
+    Post.create({title: 'a', content: 'AAA', comments: ['1', '2'],
+      history: {a: 1, b: 'b'}}, function (err, post) {
+
+      should.not.exist(err);
+
+      Post.findById(post.id, function (err, p) {
+        p.id.should.be.equal(post.id);
+
+        p.content.should.be.equal(post.content);
+        p.title.should.be.equal('a');
+        p.comments.should.eql(['1', '2']);
+        p.history.should.eql({a: 1, b: 'b'});
+
+        done();
+      });
+    });
+
+  });
+
   it('updateOrCreate should update the instance', function (done) {
     Post.create({title: 'a', content: 'AAA'}, function (err, post) {
       post.title = 'b';