diff --git a/packages/server/src/commands/MigrateCommand.ts b/packages/server/src/commands/MigrateCommand.ts
index c12968a5054..b058ea87c5b 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/commands/MigrateCommand.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/commands/MigrateCommand.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ enum ArgvCommand {
 
 interface Argv {
 	command: ArgvCommand;
+	disableTransactions?: boolean;
 }
 
 export default class MigrateCommand extends BaseCommand {
@@ -53,13 +54,13 @@ export default class MigrateCommand extends BaseCommand {
 	public async run(argv: Argv, runContext: RunContext): Promise<void> {
 		const commands: Record<ArgvCommand, Function> = {
 			up: async () => {
-				await migrateUp(runContext.db);
+				await migrateUp(runContext.db, argv.disableTransactions);
 			},
 			down: async () => {
-				await migrateDown(runContext.db);
+				await migrateDown(runContext.db, argv.disableTransactions);
 			},
 			latest: async () => {
-				await migrateLatest(runContext.db);
+				await migrateLatest(runContext.db, argv.disableTransactions);
 			},
 			list: async () => {
 				const s = (await migrateList(runContext.db)) as string;
diff --git a/packages/server/src/migrations/20211027112530_item_owner.ts b/packages/server/src/migrations/20211027112530_item_owner.ts
index c023da782ec..16aedc70a79 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/migrations/20211027112530_item_owner.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/migrations/20211027112530_item_owner.ts
@@ -1,41 +1,52 @@
 import { Knex } from 'knex';
-import { DbConnection, isPostgres } from '../db';
+import { DbConnection } from '../db';
 
 export async function up(db: DbConnection): Promise<any> {
-	await db.schema.alterTable('items', (table: Knex.CreateTableBuilder) => {
-		table.string('owner_id', 32).defaultTo('').notNullable();
-	});
+	if (!(await db.schema.hasColumn('items', 'owner_id'))) {
+		await db.schema.alterTable('items', (table: Knex.CreateTableBuilder) => {
+			table.string('owner_id', 32).defaultTo('').notNullable();
+		});
+	}
 
-	if (isPostgres(db)) {
-		await db.raw(`
-			UPDATE items
-			SET owner_id = user_items.user_id
-			FROM user_items
-			WHERE user_items.item_id = items.id
-		`);
-	} else {
-		// Very inefficient way to set the owner_id but SQLite is probably not
-		// used with very large dataset.
-
-		interface Row {
-			id: string;
-			user_id: string;
-		}
+	// This query never finishes - so can't use it
+
+	// await db.raw(`
+	// 	UPDATE items^
+	// 	SET owner_id = user_items.user_id
+	// 	FROM user_items
+	// 	WHERE user_items.item_id = items.id
+	// `);
+
+	interface Row {
+		id: string;
+		user_id: string;
+	}
+
+	const pageSize = 10000;
+
+	const itemCount = (await db('items')
+		.count('id', { as: 'total' })
+		.where('owner_id', '=', '')
+		.first())['total'];
 
-		while (true) {
-			const items: Row[] = await
-			db('items')
-				.join('user_items', 'items.id', 'user_items.item_id')
-				.select(['items.id', 'user_items.user_id'])
-				.where('owner_id', '=', '')
-				.limit(10000);
+	let itemDone = 0;
 
-			if (!items.length) break;
+	while (true) {
+		const items: Row[] = await db('items')
+			.join('user_items', 'items.id', 'user_items.item_id')
+			.select(['items.id', 'user_items.user_id'])
+			.where('owner_id', '=', '')
+			.limit(pageSize);
 
-			for (const item of items) {
-				await db('items').update({ owner_id: item.user_id }).where('id', '=', item.id);
-			}
+		if (!items.length) break;
+
+		console.info(`Processing items ${itemDone} / ${itemCount}`);
+
+		for (const item of items) {
+			await db('items').update({ owner_id: item.user_id }).where('id', '=', item.id);
 		}
+
+		itemDone += items.length;
 	}
 
 	await db.schema.alterTable('items', (table: Knex.CreateTableBuilder) => {