diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/nas-compose-deploy.yml b/.gitea/workflows/nas-compose-deploy.yml
index ce03082..d2c37ba 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/nas-compose-deploy.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/nas-compose-deploy.yml
@@ -122,6 +122,77 @@ jobs:
           chmod 700 ~/.ssh
           ssh-keyscan -p "${NAS_PORT}" "${NAS_HOST}" >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
 
+      - name: Validate migrations on empty Postgres
+        run: |
+          set -eu
+
+          test_name="geo-migration-preflight-${GITHUB_RUN_ID:-manual}-${GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER:-0}"
+          network_name="${test_name}-net"
+          postgres_name="${test_name}-postgres"
+          migrate_image="${test_name}-migrate"
+
+          cleanup() {
+            docker rm -f "${postgres_name}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+            docker network rm "${network_name}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+            docker image rm "${migrate_image}" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+          }
+          trap cleanup EXIT INT TERM
+
+          docker network create "${network_name}" >/dev/null
+          docker run -d \
+            --name "${postgres_name}" \
+            --network "${network_name}" \
+            -e POSTGRES_DB=geo \
+            -e POSTGRES_USER=geo \
+            -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=geo_dev \
+            postgres:16-alpine >/dev/null
+
+          echo "Waiting for empty Postgres..."
+          for i in $(seq 1 60); do
+            if docker exec "${postgres_name}" pg_isready -U geo -d geo >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+              break
+            fi
+            if [ "${i}" -eq 60 ]; then
+              docker logs "${postgres_name}" || true
+              echo "::error::Postgres did not become ready"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            sleep 1
+          done
+
+          docker exec "${postgres_name}" createdb -U geo geo_monitoring
+
+          echo "Building migration image..."
+          DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build \
+            --target migrate \
+            --tag "${migrate_image}" \
+            -f server/Dockerfile \
+            server/
+
+          database_url="postgres://geo:geo_dev@${postgres_name}:5432/geo?sslmode=disable"
+          monitoring_database_url="postgres://geo:geo_dev@${postgres_name}:5432/geo_monitoring?sslmode=disable"
+          ops_database_url="postgres://geo:geo_dev@${postgres_name}:5432/geo?sslmode=disable&x-migrations-table=schema_migrations_ops"
+
+          echo "Running tenant migrations on an empty database..."
+          docker run --rm --network "${network_name}" "${migrate_image}" \
+            -path /migrations \
+            -database "${database_url}" \
+            up
+
+          echo "Running monitoring migrations on an empty database..."
+          docker run --rm --network "${network_name}" "${migrate_image}" \
+            -path /migrations_monitoring \
+            -database "${monitoring_database_url}" \
+            up
+
+          echo "Running ops migrations on an empty database..."
+          docker run --rm --network "${network_name}" "${migrate_image}" \
+            -path /migrations_ops \
+            -database "${ops_database_url}" \
+            up
+
+          echo "Migration preflight passed."
+
       - name: Upload release to NAS
         run: |
           set -eu
diff --git a/server/migrations/20260408110000_flatten_brand_questions.up.sql b/server/migrations/20260408110000_flatten_brand_questions.up.sql
index 707e458..bc1585a 100644
--- a/server/migrations/20260408110000_flatten_brand_questions.up.sql
+++ b/server/migrations/20260408110000_flatten_brand_questions.up.sql
@@ -1,24 +1,60 @@
 ALTER TABLE brand_questions
     ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS question_text TEXT;
 
-UPDATE brand_questions q
-SET question_text = COALESCE(
-    (
-        SELECT v.question_text
-        FROM brand_question_versions v
-        WHERE v.id = q.current_version_id
-        LIMIT 1
-    ),
-    (
-        SELECT v.question_text
-        FROM brand_question_versions v
-        WHERE v.question_id = q.id
-        ORDER BY v.version_no DESC, v.id DESC
-        LIMIT 1
-    ),
-    ''
-)
-WHERE q.question_text IS NULL;
+DO $$
+BEGIN
+    IF to_regclass('public.brand_question_versions') IS NOT NULL
+        AND EXISTS (
+            SELECT 1
+            FROM information_schema.columns
+            WHERE table_schema = 'public'
+              AND table_name = 'brand_questions'
+              AND column_name = 'current_version_id'
+        )
+    THEN
+        EXECUTE $sql$
+            UPDATE brand_questions q
+            SET question_text = COALESCE(
+                (
+                    SELECT v.question_text
+                    FROM brand_question_versions v
+                    WHERE v.id = q.current_version_id
+                    LIMIT 1
+                ),
+                (
+                    SELECT v.question_text
+                    FROM brand_question_versions v
+                    WHERE v.question_id = q.id
+                    ORDER BY v.version_no DESC, v.id DESC
+                    LIMIT 1
+                ),
+                q.question_text,
+                ''
+            )
+            WHERE q.question_text IS NULL
+        $sql$;
+    ELSIF to_regclass('public.brand_question_versions') IS NOT NULL THEN
+        EXECUTE $sql$
+            UPDATE brand_questions q
+            SET question_text = COALESCE(
+                (
+                    SELECT v.question_text
+                    FROM brand_question_versions v
+                    WHERE v.question_id = q.id
+                    ORDER BY v.version_no DESC, v.id DESC
+                    LIMIT 1
+                ),
+                q.question_text,
+                ''
+            )
+            WHERE q.question_text IS NULL
+        $sql$;
+    END IF;
+END $$;
+
+UPDATE brand_questions
+SET question_text = ''
+WHERE question_text IS NULL;
 
 ALTER TABLE brand_questions
     ALTER COLUMN question_text SET NOT NULL;