diff --git a/evennia/comms/migrations/0013_auto_20170705_1726.py b/evennia/comms/migrations/0013_auto_20170705_1726.py
index f74bf9566e..b48b822b7b 100644
--- a/evennia/comms/migrations/0013_auto_20170705_1726.py
+++ b/evennia/comms/migrations/0013_auto_20170705_1726.py
@@ -2,7 +2,17 @@
 # Generated by Django 1.11.2 on 2017-07-05 17:26
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-from django.db import migrations, models
+from django.db import migrations, models, connection
+from django.db import OperationalError
+
+def _table_exists(db_cursor, tablename):
+    "Returns bool if table exists or not"
+    sql_check_exists = "SELECT * from %s;" % tablename
+    try:
+        db_cursor.execute(sql_check_exists)
+        return True
+    except OperationalError:
+        return False
 
 
 class Migration(migrations.Migration):
@@ -12,40 +22,47 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
         ('comms', '0012_merge_20170617_2017'),
     ]
 
-    operations = [
-        migrations.AddField(
-            model_name='channeldb',
-            name='db_account_subscriptions',
-            field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, db_index=True, related_name='account_subscription_set', to='accounts.AccountDB', verbose_name=b'account subscriptions'),
-        ),
-        migrations.AddField(
-            model_name='msg',
-            name='db_hide_from_accounts',
-            field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, related_name='hide_from_accounts_set', to='accounts.AccountDB'),
-        ),
-        migrations.AddField(
-            model_name='msg',
-            name='db_receivers_accounts',
-            field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, help_text=b'account receivers', related_name='receiver_account_set', to='accounts.AccountDB'),
-        ),
-        migrations.AddField(
-            model_name='msg',
-            name='db_sender_accounts',
-            field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, db_index=True, related_name='sender_account_set', to='accounts.AccountDB', verbose_name=b'sender(account)'),
-        ),
-        migrations.AlterField(
-            model_name='channeldb',
-            name='db_object_subscriptions',
-            field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, db_index=True, related_name='object_subscription_set', to='objects.ObjectDB', verbose_name=b'object subscriptions'),
-        ),
-        migrations.AlterField(
-            model_name='msg',
-            name='db_receivers_scripts',
-            field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, help_text=b'script_receivers', related_name='receiver_script_set', to='scripts.ScriptDB'),
-        ),
-        migrations.AlterField(
-            model_name='msg',
-            name='db_sender_scripts',
-            field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, db_index=True, related_name='sender_script_set', to='scripts.ScriptDB', verbose_name=b'sender(script)'),
-        ),
-    ]
+    db_cursor = connection.cursor()
+
+    if not _table_exists(db_cursor, 'comms_msg_db_hide_from_players'):
+        # OBS - this is run BEFORE migrations are run!
+        # not a migration of an existing database
+        operations = []
+    else:
+        operations = [
+            migrations.AddField(
+                model_name='channeldb',
+                name='db_account_subscriptions',
+                field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, db_index=True, related_name='account_subscription_set', to='accounts.AccountDB', verbose_name=b'account subscriptions'),
+            ),
+            migrations.AddField(
+                model_name='msg',
+                name='db_hide_from_accounts',
+                field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, related_name='hide_from_accounts_set', to='accounts.AccountDB'),
+            ),
+            migrations.AddField(
+                model_name='msg',
+                name='db_receivers_accounts',
+                field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, help_text=b'account receivers', related_name='receiver_account_set', to='accounts.AccountDB'),
+            ),
+            migrations.AddField(
+                model_name='msg',
+                name='db_sender_accounts',
+                field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, db_index=True, related_name='sender_account_set', to='accounts.AccountDB', verbose_name=b'sender(account)'),
+            ),
+            migrations.AlterField(
+                model_name='channeldb',
+                name='db_object_subscriptions',
+                field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, db_index=True, related_name='object_subscription_set', to='objects.ObjectDB', verbose_name=b'object subscriptions'),
+            ),
+            migrations.AlterField(
+                model_name='msg',
+                name='db_receivers_scripts',
+                field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, help_text=b'script_receivers', related_name='receiver_script_set', to='scripts.ScriptDB'),
+            ),
+            migrations.AlterField(
+                model_name='msg',
+                name='db_sender_scripts',
+                field=models.ManyToManyField(blank=True, db_index=True, related_name='sender_script_set', to='scripts.ScriptDB', verbose_name=b'sender(script)'),
+            ),
+        ]