diff --git a/db/migrate/20200429095034_add_topic_thumbnail_information.rb b/db/migrate/20200429095034_add_topic_thumbnail_information.rb
index be34f93c32..ee48265c6d 100644
--- a/db/migrate/20200429095034_add_topic_thumbnail_information.rb
+++ b/db/migrate/20200429095034_add_topic_thumbnail_information.rb
@@ -1,19 +1,36 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 class AddTopicThumbnailInformation < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.0]
-  def change
-    add_reference :posts, :image_upload
-    add_reference :topics, :image_upload
+  disable_ddl_transaction!
 
-    add_column :theme_modifier_sets, :topic_thumbnail_sizes, :string, array: true
+  def up
 
-    create_table :topic_thumbnails do |t|
-      t.references :upload, null: false
-      t.references :optimized_image, null: true
-      t.integer :max_width, null: false
-      t.integer :max_height, null: false
+    # tables are huge ... avoid holding on to large number of locks by doing one at a time
+    execute <<~SQL
+      ALTER TABLE posts
+      ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS image_upload_id bigint
+    SQL
+
+    execute <<~SQL
+      ALTER TABLE topics
+      ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS image_upload_id bigint
+    SQL
+
+    ActiveRecord::Base.transaction do
+      add_column :theme_modifier_sets, :topic_thumbnail_sizes, :string, array: true
+
+      create_table :topic_thumbnails do |t|
+        t.references :upload, null: false
+        t.references :optimized_image, null: true
+        t.integer :max_width, null: false
+        t.integer :max_height, null: false
+      end
+
+      add_index :topic_thumbnails, [:upload_id, :max_width, :max_height], name: :unique_topic_thumbnails, unique: true
     end
+  end
 
-    add_index :topic_thumbnails, [:upload_id, :max_width, :max_height], name: :unique_topic_thumbnails, unique: true
+  def down
+    raise IrriversibleMigration
   end
 end