Mysql2 not preparing SQL statement - what am I missing?

Question

I am using mysql2 to connect and execute a simple CREATE DATABASE statement with node:

import {ConnectionOptions, createConnection, createPool, FieldPacket, Pool, RowDataPacket} from "mysql2/promise";

...

this.dbConfig = {
    host: process.env.DB_HOST,
    port: parseInt(process.env.DB_PORT),
    user: process.env.DB_USER,
    password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD,
    database: process.env.DB_DATABASE,
};

const defaultDbConnection = await createConnection(defaultDbConfig);
await defaultDbConnection.execute('CREATE DATABASE ?', [this.dbConfig.database]);

It fails with:

You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '?' at line 1

It seems it is not preparing the statement for some reason. According to this:

https://www.npmjs.com/package/mysql2#using-promise-wrapper

I seem to be using the API correctly.

If I change this to:

await defaultDbConnection.execute(`CREATE DATABASE ${this.dbConfig.database}`);

Then it works, but I'd like to use prepared statements instead given that this is not the only thing I'm planning to run.

My MySQL is running through docker:

db:
    image: mysql:5.7
    restart: always

    environment:
        MYSQL_DATABASE: 'db'
        # So you don't have to use root, but you can if you like
        MYSQL_USER: 'user'
        # You can use whatever password you like
        MYSQL_PASSWORD: 'password'
        # Password for root access
        MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: 'password'
    ports:
        # <Port exposed> : < MySQL Port running inside container>
        - '3306:3306'
    expose:
        # Opens port 3306 on the container
        - '3306'
    volumes:
        # Where our data will be persisted
        - my-db:/var/lib/mysql

What am I missing?