diff --git a/lib/gitlab/current_settings.rb b/lib/gitlab/current_settings.rb
index 46a4ef0e31febfd300cbc35bc5abb88291e59f27..7a86c09158ed4fa8712945284344225dea21ec08 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/current_settings.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/current_settings.rb
@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@ def connect_to_db?
                  true
                end
 
-      use_db && ActiveRecord::Base.connection.active? && ActiveRecord::Base.connection.table_exists?('application_settings')
+      use_db && ActiveRecord::Base.connection.active? &&
+                !ActiveRecord::Migrator.needs_migration? &&
+                ActiveRecord::Base.connection.table_exists?('application_settings')
     end
   end
 end