diff --git a/repair.sh b/repair.sh
index 66ed22fb..367b30e6 100755
--- a/repair.sh
+++ b/repair.sh
@@ -143,10 +143,13 @@ chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/90-wrolpi
 # Verify this new file is valid.
 visudo -c -f /etc/sudoers.d/90-wrolpi
 
-# Configure Postgresql.  Do this after the API is stopped.
-/opt/wrolpi/scripts/initialize_api_db.sh
+# Configure Postgresql.  Do this after the API is stopped.  Never fatal: a
+# repair/upgrade must complete its system-level work even when the database
+# is down (e.g. it is the reboot after this repair that revives Postgres).
+/opt/wrolpi/scripts/initialize_api_db.sh || \
+  echo "WARNING: could not initialize the database; the API will report if it stays down."
 # wrolpi user is superuser so they can import maps.
-sudo -iu postgres psql -c "alter user wrolpi with superuser"
+sudo -iu postgres psql -c "alter user wrolpi with superuser" || :
 
 # Create the media directory.  This should be mounted by the maintainer.
 [ -d /media/wrolpi ] || mkdir /media/wrolpi
diff --git a/scripts/upgrade.sh b/scripts/upgrade.sh
index 9a959585..df602aca 100755
--- a/scripts/upgrade.sh
+++ b/scripts/upgrade.sh
@@ -96,8 +96,11 @@ find /opt/wrolpi/venv -name "*.pyc" -delete 2>/dev/null || :
 
 # Install any new Python requirements.
 /opt/wrolpi/venv/bin/pip3 install --upgrade -r /opt/wrolpi/requirements.txt
-# Upgrade the WROLPi database.
-(cd /opt/wrolpi && /opt/wrolpi/venv/bin/python3 /opt/wrolpi/main.py db upgrade)
+# Upgrade the WROLPi database.  Never fatal: the database may be down and
+# repair.sh (which runs at the end of this upgrade) may be exactly what fixes
+# it; initialize_api_db.sh re-runs this migration there.
+(cd /opt/wrolpi && /opt/wrolpi/venv/bin/python3 /opt/wrolpi/main.py db upgrade) || \
+  echo "WARNING: db upgrade failed (database down?); it will be retried during repair."
 
 # Upgrade WROLPi Help.
 /opt/wrolpi/scripts/install_help_service.sh || echo "Help install failed."