diff --git a/changelog.d/opt-init.d-migrations.change b/changelog.d/opt-init.d-migrations.change
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c53f2baa0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/opt-init.d-migrations.change
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- OpenRC: Automatically run migrations before starting pleroma
diff --git a/installation/init.d/pleroma b/installation/init.d/pleroma
index cb6635a0b..3b584bd45 100755
--- a/installation/init.d/pleroma
+++ b/installation/init.d/pleroma
@@ -37,6 +37,13 @@ depend() {
 	need nginx postgresql
 }
 
+start_pre() {
+	ebegin "running migrations if any"
+	su -s /bin/sh -c "cd \"${directory}\" && exec /usr/bin/mix ecto.migrate" \
+		"${command_user%%:*}"
+	eend "$?"
+}
+
 healthcheck() {
 	# put pleroma_health=YES in /etc/conf.d/pleroma if you want healthchecking
 	# and make sure you have curl installed
diff --git a/rel/files/installation/init.d/pleroma b/rel/files/installation/init.d/pleroma
index ca5b842e1..2d3977e41 100755
--- a/rel/files/installation/init.d/pleroma
+++ b/rel/files/installation/init.d/pleroma
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ retry="SIGTERM/30/SIGKILL/5"
 pidfile="/var/run/pleroma.pid"
 
 depend() {
-    want nginx
-    need postgresql
+	want nginx
+	need postgresql
+}
+
+start_pre() {
+	ebegin "running migrations if any"
+	su -s /bin/sh -c "cd \"${directory}\" && exec /opt/pleroma/bin/pleroma_ctl migrate" \
+		"${command_user%%:*}"
+	eend "$?"
 }