diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
index 14b04ae9f8..1e7da2f9a2 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
@@ -193,7 +193,6 @@ const environment = {
   },
   ROLLING_LOG_MAX_SIZE: process.env.ROLLING_LOG_MAX_SIZE || "10M",
   DISABLE_SCIM_CALLS: process.env.DISABLE_SCIM_CALLS,
-  SKIP_APP_MIGRATIONS: process.env.SKIP_APP_MIGRATIONS || false,
 }
 
 // clean up any environment variable edge cases
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/migrations.ts b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/migrations.ts
index 9a23226837..97c0ae8712 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/migrations.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/migrations.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export async function getMigrationStatus(ctx: Ctx) {
 
   const latestAppliedMigration = await getAppMigrationVersion(appId)
 
-  const migrated = latestAppliedMigration === getLatestEnabledMigrationId()
+  const migrated = latestAppliedMigration >= getLatestEnabledMigrationId()
 
   ctx.body = { migrated }
   ctx.status = 200
diff --git a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/index.ts b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/index.ts
index a3e3858559..cac1e82716 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/index.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/index.ts
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ export type AppMigration = {
   disabled?: boolean
 }
 
-export function getLatestEnabledMigrationId() {
+export function getLatestEnabledMigrationId(migrations?: AppMigration[]) {
   const enabledMigrations: AppMigration[] = []
-  for (let migration of MIGRATIONS) {
+  for (let migration of migrations || MIGRATIONS) {
     // if a migration is disabled, all migrations after it are disabled
     if (migration.disabled) {
       break
diff --git a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/20240604153647_initial_sqs.ts b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/20240604153647_initial_sqs.ts
index d092f416ff..05174b8cf1 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/20240604153647_initial_sqs.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/migrations/20240604153647_initial_sqs.ts
@@ -43,15 +43,7 @@ const migration = async () => {
     const tables = await sdk.tables.getAllInternalTables()
     // do these one by one - running in parallel could cause problems
     for (let table of tables) {
-      try {
-        await db.sql(`select * from ${table._id} limit 1`)
-      } catch (err) {
-        if (typeof err === "object") {
-          const dbErr = err as DBError
-          throw new Error(`Failed to run initial SQS search - ${dbErr.message}`)
-        }
-        throw err
-      }
+      await db.sql(`select * from ${table._id} limit 1`)
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/tests/migrations.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/tests/migrations.spec.ts
index 1ea54396f7..1da94f503f 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/appMigrations/tests/migrations.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/appMigrations/tests/migrations.spec.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { Header } from "@budibase/backend-core"
 import * as setup from "../../api/routes/tests/utilities"
 import * as migrations from "../migrations"
-import { getLatestEnabledMigrationId } from "../index"
+import { AppMigration, getLatestEnabledMigrationId } from "../index"
 import { getAppMigrationVersion } from "../appMigrationMetadata"
 
 jest.mock<typeof migrations>("../migrations", () => ({
@@ -54,25 +54,28 @@ describe("migrations", () => {
     })
   })
 
-  it("should disable migrations if any migration is disabled", () => {
-    // remove all migrations
-    migrations.MIGRATIONS.splice(0, migrations.MIGRATIONS.length)
-    migrations.MIGRATIONS.push({
-      id: "20231211105810_new-test",
-      func: async () => {},
-    })
-    migrations.MIGRATIONS.push({
-      id: "20231211105812_new-test",
-      func: async () => {},
-    })
-    migrations.MIGRATIONS.push({
-      id: "20231211105814_new-test",
-      func: async () => {},
-    })
+  it("should disable all migrations after one that is disabled", () => {
+    const MIGRATION_ID1 = "20231211105810_new-test",
+      MIGRATION_ID2 = "20231211105812_new-test",
+      MIGRATION_ID3 = "20231211105814_new-test"
+    // create some migrations to test with
+    const migrations: AppMigration[] = [
+      {
+        id: MIGRATION_ID1,
+        func: async () => {},
+      },
+      {
+        id: MIGRATION_ID2,
+        func: async () => {},
+      },
+      {
+        id: MIGRATION_ID3,
+        func: async () => {},
+      },
+    ]
 
-    expect(getLatestEnabledMigrationId()).toBe("20231211105814_new-test")
-
-    migrations.MIGRATIONS[1].disabled = true
-    expect(getLatestEnabledMigrationId()).toBe("20231211105810_new-test")
+    expect(getLatestEnabledMigrationId(migrations)).toBe(MIGRATION_ID3)
+    migrations[1].disabled = true
+    expect(getLatestEnabledMigrationId(migrations)).toBe(MIGRATION_ID1)
   })
 })
diff --git a/packages/server/src/middleware/appMigrations.ts b/packages/server/src/middleware/appMigrations.ts
index a8ea886ab2..fdaeb3a03d 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/middleware/appMigrations.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/middleware/appMigrations.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ import { env } from "@budibase/backend-core"
 export default async (ctx: UserCtx, next: any) => {
   const { appId } = ctx
 
-  // migrations can be disabled via environment variable, or can be disabled
-  // due to some of the migrations not being ready to run - disables all migrations
+  // migrations can be disabled via environment variable if you
+  // need to completely disable migrations, e.g. for testing
   if (env.SKIP_APP_MIGRATIONS) {
     return next()
   }
diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/internal/sqs.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/internal/sqs.ts
index 6e0e6e7496..4819b9d8d5 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/internal/sqs.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/internal/sqs.ts
@@ -109,8 +109,12 @@ async function buildBaseDefinition(): Promise<PreSaveSQLiteDefinition> {
 export async function syncDefinition(): Promise<void> {
   const db = context.getAppDB()
   let existing: SQLiteDefinition | undefined
-  if (await db.exists(SQLITE_DESIGN_DOC_ID)) {
+  try {
     existing = await db.get<SQLiteDefinition>(SQLITE_DESIGN_DOC_ID)
+  } catch (err: any) {
+    if (err.status !== 404) {
+      throw err
+    }
   }
   const definition = await buildBaseDefinition()
   if (existing) {