diff --git a/lerna.json b/lerna.json
index 541ff34409..d762e6c26c 100644
--- a/lerna.json
+++ b/lerna.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "$schema": "node_modules/lerna/schemas/lerna-schema.json",
-  "version": "2.29.10",
+  "version": "2.29.11",
   "npmClient": "yarn",
   "packages": [
     "packages/*",
diff --git a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations.ts b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations.ts
index 14eb9d0923..7437753ada 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ export const MIGRATIONS: AppMigration[] = [
   {
     id: "20240604153647_initial_sqs",
     func: m20240604153647_initial_sqs,
-    disabled: !env.SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE,
+    disabled: !(env.SQS_MIGRATION_ENABLE || env.SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE),
   },
 ]
diff --git a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/20240604153647_initial_sqs.ts b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/20240604153647_initial_sqs.ts
index 800de1418a..da435705c1 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/20240604153647_initial_sqs.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/20240604153647_initial_sqs.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ const migration = async () => {
   // only do initial search if environment is using SQS already
   // initial search makes sure that all the indexes have been created
   // and are ready to use, avoiding any initial waits for large tables
-  if (env.SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE) {
+  if (env.SQS_MIGRATION_ENABLE || env.SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE) {
     const tables = await sdk.tables.getAllInternalTables()
     // do these one by one - running in parallel could cause problems
     for (let table of tables) {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/tests/20240604153647_initial_sqs.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/tests/20240604153647_initial_sqs.spec.ts
index 572e694855..0a34fb2bb4 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/tests/20240604153647_initial_sqs.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/tests/20240604153647_initial_sqs.spec.ts
@@ -66,64 +66,69 @@ function oldLinkDocument(): Omit<LinkDocument, "tableId"> {
   }
 }
 
-async function sqsDisabled(cb: () => Promise<void>) {
-  await config.withEnv({ SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE: "" }, cb)
+type SQSEnvVar = "SQS_MIGRATION_ENABLE" | "SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE"
+
+async function sqsDisabled(envVar: SQSEnvVar, cb: () => Promise<void>) {
+  await config.withEnv({ [envVar]: "" }, cb)
 }
 
-async function sqsEnabled(cb: () => Promise<void>) {
-  await config.withEnv({ SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE: "1" }, cb)
+async function sqsEnabled(envVar: SQSEnvVar, cb: () => Promise<void>) {
+  await config.withEnv({ [envVar]: "1" }, cb)
 }
 
-beforeAll(async () => {
-  await sqsDisabled(async () => {
-    await config.init()
-    const table = await config.api.table.save(basicTable())
-    tableId = table._id!
-    const db = dbCore.getDB(config.appId!)
-    // old link document
-    await db.put(oldLinkDocument())
-  })
-})
-
-describe("SQS migration", () => {
-  it("test migration runs as expected against an older DB", async () => {
-    const db = dbCore.getDB(config.appId!)
-    // confirm nothing exists initially
-    await sqsDisabled(async () => {
-      let error: any | undefined
-      try {
-        await db.get(SQLITE_DESIGN_DOC_ID)
-      } catch (err: any) {
-        error = err
-      }
-      expect(error).toBeDefined()
-      expect(error.status).toBe(404)
-    })
-    await sqsEnabled(async () => {
-      await processMigrations(config.appId!, MIGRATIONS)
-      const designDoc = await db.get<SQLiteDefinition>(SQLITE_DESIGN_DOC_ID)
-      expect(designDoc.sql.tables).toBeDefined()
-      const mainTableDef = designDoc.sql.tables[tableId]
-      expect(mainTableDef).toBeDefined()
-      expect(mainTableDef.fields[prefix("name")]).toEqual({
-        field: "name",
-        type: SQLiteType.TEXT,
+describe.each(["SQS_MIGRATION_ENABLE", "SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE"] as SQSEnvVar[])(
+  "SQS migration with (%s)",
+  envVar => {
+    beforeAll(async () => {
+      await sqsDisabled(envVar, async () => {
+        await config.init()
+        const table = await config.api.table.save(basicTable())
+        tableId = table._id!
+        const db = dbCore.getDB(config.appId!)
+        // old link document
+        await db.put(oldLinkDocument())
       })
-      expect(mainTableDef.fields[prefix("description")]).toEqual({
-        field: "description",
-        type: SQLiteType.TEXT,
-      })
-
-      const { tableId1, tableId2, rowId1, rowId2 } = oldLinkDocInfo()
-      const linkDoc = await db.get<LinkDocument>(oldLinkDocID())
-      expect(linkDoc.tableId).toEqual(
-        generateJunctionTableID(tableId1, tableId2)
-      )
-      // should have swapped the documents
-      expect(linkDoc.doc1.tableId).toEqual(tableId2)
-      expect(linkDoc.doc1.rowId).toEqual(rowId2)
-      expect(linkDoc.doc2.tableId).toEqual(tableId1)
-      expect(linkDoc.doc2.rowId).toEqual(rowId1)
     })
-  })
-})
+
+    it("test migration runs as expected against an older DB", async () => {
+      const db = dbCore.getDB(config.appId!)
+      // confirm nothing exists initially
+      await sqsDisabled(envVar, async () => {
+        let error: any | undefined
+        try {
+          await db.get(SQLITE_DESIGN_DOC_ID)
+        } catch (err: any) {
+          error = err
+        }
+        expect(error).toBeDefined()
+        expect(error.status).toBe(404)
+      })
+      await sqsEnabled(envVar, async () => {
+        await processMigrations(config.appId!, MIGRATIONS)
+        const designDoc = await db.get<SQLiteDefinition>(SQLITE_DESIGN_DOC_ID)
+        expect(designDoc.sql.tables).toBeDefined()
+        const mainTableDef = designDoc.sql.tables[tableId]
+        expect(mainTableDef).toBeDefined()
+        expect(mainTableDef.fields[prefix("name")]).toEqual({
+          field: "name",
+          type: SQLiteType.TEXT,
+        })
+        expect(mainTableDef.fields[prefix("description")]).toEqual({
+          field: "description",
+          type: SQLiteType.TEXT,
+        })
+
+        const { tableId1, tableId2, rowId1, rowId2 } = oldLinkDocInfo()
+        const linkDoc = await db.get<LinkDocument>(oldLinkDocID())
+        expect(linkDoc.tableId).toEqual(
+          generateJunctionTableID(tableId1, tableId2)
+        )
+        // should have swapped the documents
+        expect(linkDoc.doc1.tableId).toEqual(tableId2)
+        expect(linkDoc.doc1.rowId).toEqual(rowId2)
+        expect(linkDoc.doc2.tableId).toEqual(tableId1)
+        expect(linkDoc.doc2.rowId).toEqual(rowId1)
+      })
+    })
+  }
+)
diff --git a/packages/server/src/environment.ts b/packages/server/src/environment.ts
index 91e99b8850..c8203392e6 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/environment.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ const environment = {
   SQL_LOGGING_ENABLE: process.env.SQL_LOGGING_ENABLE,
   SQL_ALIASING_DISABLE: process.env.SQL_ALIASING_DISABLE,
   SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE: process.env.SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE,
+  SQS_MIGRATION_ENABLE: process.env.SQS_MIGRATION_ENABLE,
   // flags
   ALLOW_DEV_AUTOMATIONS: process.env.ALLOW_DEV_AUTOMATIONS,
   DISABLE_THREADING: process.env.DISABLE_THREADING,