diff --git a/features/db-import.feature b/features/db-import.feature
index 5761fb24..e13a74cb 100644
--- a/features/db-import.feature
+++ b/features/db-import.feature
@@ -178,3 +178,21 @@ Feature: Import a WordPress database
       """
       🍣
       """
+
+  Scenario: Import MariaDB sandbox dump
+    Given a WP install
+    And a sandbox.sql file:
+      """
+      /*!999999\- enable the sandbox mode */
+      INSERT INTO wp_terms (name, slug, term_group) VALUES ('Test Term', 'test-term', 0);
+      """
+
+    When I run `wp db import sandbox.sql`
+    Then STDOUT should contain:
+        """
+        MariaDB sandbox mode directive detected. Skipping it by piping the file content.
+        """
+    And STDOUT should contain:
+        """
+        Success: Imported from 'sandbox.sql'.
+        """
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/DB_Command.php b/src/DB_Command.php
index 06781cee..25aa32fc 100644
--- a/src/DB_Command.php
+++ b/src/DB_Command.php
@@ -816,6 +816,48 @@ public function import( $args, $assoc_args ) {
 				WP_CLI::error( sprintf( 'Import file missing or not readable: %s', $result_file ) );
 			}
 
+			// Check for MariaDB sandbox mode directive in the first line.
+			// This directive can interfere with standard imports by enabling a sandbox mode
+			// that restricts certain operations. We skip it by piping the file content
+			// and skipping the first line.
+			$fp = fopen( $result_file, 'r' );
+			if ( ! $fp ) {
+				WP_CLI::error( sprintf( 'Unable to read import file: %s', $result_file ) );
+			}
+			$first_line = fgets( $fp );
+			fclose( $fp );
+
+			if ( false !== $first_line && strpos( $first_line, '999999' ) !== false && strpos( $first_line, 'sandbox mode' ) !== false ) {
+				WP_CLI::log( 'MariaDB sandbox mode directive detected. Skipping it by piping the file content.' );
+				$preamble = $this->get_sql_mode_query( $assoc_args ) . "\n";
+				if ( ! Utils\get_flag_value( $assoc_args, 'skip-optimization' ) ) {
+					$preamble .= "SET autocommit = 0; SET unique_checks = 0; SET foreign_key_checks = 0;\n";
+				}
+
+				$postamble = Utils\get_flag_value( $assoc_args, 'skip-optimization' ) ? '' : "\nCOMMIT;\n";
+
+				// Use a shell pipeline to skip the first line and wrap the rest in transaction/optimizations.
+				$command = sprintf(
+					'sh -c \'p="$1"; f="$2"; s="$3"; shift 3; ( printf "%%s" "$p"; tail -n +2 "$f"; printf "%%s" "$s" ) | %s %s --no-auto-rehash "$@"\' sh %s %s %s',
+					$this->get_mysql_command(),
+					$this->get_defaults_flag_string( $assoc_args ),
+					escapeshellarg( $preamble ),
+					escapeshellarg( $result_file ),
+					escapeshellarg( $postamble )
+				);
+
+					// Ensure we don't pass 'execute' which would conflict with STDIN.
+					unset( $mysql_args['execute'] );
+
+					$result = self::run( $command, $mysql_args );
+
+					self::run( $command, $mysql_args );
+
+					WP_CLI::success( sprintf( "Imported from '%s'.", $result_file ) );
+
+					return;
+			}
+
 			$query = Utils\get_flag_value( $assoc_args, 'skip-optimization' )
 				? 'SOURCE %s;'
 				: 'SET autocommit = 0; SET unique_checks = 0; SET foreign_key_checks = 0; SOURCE %s; COMMIT;';