diff --git a/app/boot.py b/app/boot.py
index 649bfd84..d1742c31 100644
--- a/app/boot.py
+++ b/app/boot.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from webodm.wsgi import booted
 def boot():
     # booted is a shared memory variable to keep track of boot status
     # as multiple gunicorn workers could trigger the boot sequence twice
-    if not settings.DEBUG and booted.value: return
+    if (not settings.DEBUG and booted.value) or settings.MIGRATING: return
 
     booted.value = True
     logger = logging.getLogger('app.logger')
diff --git a/webodm/settings.py b/webodm/settings.py
index ffdc7ffe..16cd665a 100644
--- a/webodm/settings.py
+++ b/webodm/settings.py
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ with open(os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'package.json')) as package_file:
     VERSION = data['version']
 
 TESTING = sys.argv[1:2] == ['test']
+MIGRATING = sys.argv[1:2] == ['migrate']
 WORKER_RUNNING = sys.argv[2:3] == ["worker"]
 
 # SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on a public facing server!