diff --git a/lib/gitlab/current_settings.rb b/lib/gitlab/current_settings.rb
index 82576d197fe..9e14b35b0f8 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/current_settings.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/current_settings.rb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ module Gitlab
           settings = ::ApplicationSetting.last
         end
 
-        settings ||= ::ApplicationSetting.create_from_defaults unless ActiveRecord::Migrator.needs_migration?
+        settings ||= ::ApplicationSetting.create_from_defaults
       end
 
       settings || in_memory_application_settings
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ module Gitlab
       active_db_connection = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.active? rescue false
 
       active_db_connection &&
-        ActiveRecord::Base.connection.table_exists?('application_settings')
+        ActiveRecord::Base.connection.table_exists?('application_settings') &&
+        !ActiveRecord::Migrator.needs_migration?
     rescue ActiveRecord::NoDatabaseError
       false
     end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/projects/merge_requests_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/projects/merge_requests_controller_spec.rb
index 08024a2148b..a25db7a65fb 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/projects/merge_requests_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/projects/merge_requests_controller_spec.rb
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ describe Projects::MergeRequestsController do
 
           recorded = ActiveRecord::QueryRecorder.new { go(format: :json) }
 
-          expect(recorded.count).to be_within(5).of(50)
+          expect(recorded.count).to be_within(5).of(59)
           expect(recorded.cached_count).to eq(0)
         end
       end
diff --git a/spec/serializers/pipeline_serializer_spec.rb b/spec/serializers/pipeline_serializer_spec.rb
index f2426db6d81..088f24eb180 100644
--- a/spec/serializers/pipeline_serializer_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/serializers/pipeline_serializer_spec.rb
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ describe PipelineSerializer do
 
       it "verifies number of queries" do
         recorded = ActiveRecord::QueryRecorder.new { subject }
-        expect(recorded.count).to be_within(1).of(58)
+        expect(recorded.count).to be_within(1).of(60)
         expect(recorded.cached_count).to eq(0)
       end