diff --git a/db/migrate/20170710083355_clean_stage_id_reference_migration.rb b/db/migrate/20170710083355_clean_stage_id_reference_migration.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..681203eaf40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20170710083355_clean_stage_id_reference_migration.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+class CleanStageIdReferenceMigration < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  include Gitlab::Database::MigrationHelpers
+
+  DOWNTIME = false
+
+  disable_ddl_transaction!
+
+  ##
+  # `MigrateStageIdReferenceInBackground` background migration cleanup.
+  #
+  def up
+    Gitlab::BackgroundMigration.steal('MigrateBuildStageIdReference')
+  end
+
+  def down
+    # noop
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/background_migration.rb b/lib/gitlab/background_migration.rb
index b0741b1fba7..d3f66877672 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/background_migration.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/background_migration.rb
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ module Gitlab
           next unless migration_class == steal_class
 
           begin
-            perform(migration_class, migration_args, retries: 3) if job.delete
+            perform(migration_class, migration_args) if job.delete
           rescue Exception # rubocop:disable Lint/RescueException
             BackgroundMigrationWorker # enqueue this migration again
               .perform_async(migration_class, migration_args)
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/background_migration_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/background_migration_spec.rb
index cfa59280139..4ad69aeba43 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/background_migration_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/background_migration_spec.rb
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ describe Gitlab::BackgroundMigration do
           expect(queue[0]).to receive(:delete).and_return(true)
 
           expect(described_class).to receive(:perform)
-            .with('Foo', [10, 20], anything)
+            .with('Foo', [10, 20])
 
           described_class.steal('Foo')
         end
@@ -93,9 +93,9 @@ describe Gitlab::BackgroundMigration do
       it 'steals from the scheduled sets queue first' do
         Sidekiq::Testing.disable! do
           expect(described_class).to receive(:perform)
-            .with('Object', [1], anything).ordered
+            .with('Object', [1]).ordered
           expect(described_class).to receive(:perform)
-            .with('Object', [2], anything).ordered
+            .with('Object', [2]).ordered
 
           BackgroundMigrationWorker.perform_async('Object', [2])
           BackgroundMigrationWorker.perform_in(10.minutes, 'Object', [1])
diff --git a/spec/migrations/clean_stage_id_reference_migration_spec.rb b/spec/migrations/clean_stage_id_reference_migration_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9a581df28a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/migrations/clean_stage_id_reference_migration_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+require Rails.root.join('db', 'migrate', '20170710083355_clean_stage_id_reference_migration.rb')
+
+describe CleanStageIdReferenceMigration, :migration, :sidekiq, :redis do
+  let(:migration_class) { 'MigrateBuildStageIdReference' }
+  let(:migration) { spy('migration') }
+
+  before do
+    allow(Gitlab::BackgroundMigration.const_get(migration_class))
+      .to receive(:new).and_return(migration)
+  end
+
+  context 'when there are pending background migrations' do
+    it 'processes pending jobs synchronously' do
+      Sidekiq::Testing.disable! do
+        BackgroundMigrationWorker.perform_in(2.minutes, migration_class, [1, 1])
+        BackgroundMigrationWorker.perform_async(migration_class, [1, 1])
+
+        migrate!
+
+        expect(migration).to have_received(:perform).with(1, 1).twice
+      end
+    end
+  end
+  context 'when there are no background migrations pending' do
+    it 'does nothing' do
+      Sidekiq::Testing.disable! do
+        migrate!
+
+        expect(migration).not_to have_received(:perform)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end