diff --git a/evennia/typeclasses/migrations/0005_auto_20160625_1812.py b/evennia/typeclasses/migrations/0005_auto_20160625_1812.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6414112272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/evennia/typeclasses/migrations/0005_auto_20160625_1812.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Generated by Django 1.9.7 on 2016-06-25 18:12
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+from django.db import migrations
+
+# Migration of old nick format to new
+
+def update_nicks(apps, schema_editor):
+    Attribute = apps.get_model("typeclasses", "Attribute")
+    for nick in Attribute.objects.filter(db_attrtype="nick"):
+        try:
+            _, _, _, _ = nick.db_value
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            # old setup, we store it in the new format - old uses its own key
+            # as regex to keep the old matching (and has no $-type args)
+            nick.db_value = (nick.db_key, nick.db_strvalue, nick.db_key, nick.db_strvalue)
+            nick.save()
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('typeclasses', '0004_auto_20151101_1759'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.RunPython(update_nicks)
+    ]