diff --git a/lib/private/DB/Connection.php b/lib/private/DB/Connection.php
index 1b61cc83319ac..516d6d34f12c6 100644
--- a/lib/private/DB/Connection.php
+++ b/lib/private/DB/Connection.php
@@ -180,7 +180,9 @@ public function __construct(
 				self::SHARD_PRESETS[$name]['shard_key'],
 				$shardMapper,
 				self::SHARD_PRESETS[$name]['companion_tables'],
-				$config['shards']
+				$config['shards'],
+				$config['from_primary_key'] ?? 0,
+				$config['from_shard_key'] ?? 0,
 			);
 		}, $shardConfig, $shardNames);
 		$this->shards = array_combine($shardNames, $this->shards);
@@ -199,8 +201,10 @@ public function getShardConnections(): array {
 		if ($this->isShardingEnabled) {
 			foreach ($this->shards as $shardDefinition) {
 				foreach ($shardDefinition->getAllShards() as $shard) {
-					/** @var ConnectionAdapter $connection */
-					$connections[] = $this->shardConnectionManager->getConnection($shardDefinition, $shard);
+					if ($shard !== ShardDefinition::MIGRATION_SHARD) {
+						/** @var ConnectionAdapter $connection */
+						$connections[] = $this->shardConnectionManager->getConnection($shardDefinition, $shard);
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/AutoIncrementHandler.php b/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/AutoIncrementHandler.php
index c3ce28376e34d..4ee927989e83d 100644
--- a/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/AutoIncrementHandler.php
+++ b/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/AutoIncrementHandler.php
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
 
 namespace OC\DB\QueryBuilder\Sharded;
 
+use OC\DB\QueryBuilder\QueryBuilder;
 use OCP\ICacheFactory;
+use OCP\IDBConnection;
 use OCP\IMemcache;
 use OCP\IMemcacheTTL;
 
@@ -134,17 +136,19 @@ private function getNextInner(ShardDefinition $shardDefinition): ?int {
 	 * Get the maximum primary key value from the shards
 	 */
 	private function getMaxFromDb(ShardDefinition $shardDefinition): int {
-		$max = 0;
+		$max = $shardDefinition->fromFileId;
+		$query = $this->shardConnectionManager->getConnection($shardDefinition, 0)->getQueryBuilder();
+		$query->select($shardDefinition->primaryKey)
+			->from($shardDefinition->table)
+			->orderBy($shardDefinition->primaryKey, 'DESC')
+			->setMaxResults(1);
 		foreach ($shardDefinition->getAllShards() as $shard) {
-			$connection = $this->shardConnectionManager->getConnection($shardDefinition, $shard);
-			$query = $connection->getQueryBuilder();
-			$query->select($shardDefinition->primaryKey)
-				->from($shardDefinition->table)
-				->orderBy($shardDefinition->primaryKey, 'DESC')
-				->setMaxResults(1);
-			$result = $query->executeQuery()->fetchOne();
-			if ($result) {
-				$max = max($max, $result);
+			if ($shard !== ShardDefinition::MIGRATION_SHARD) {
+				$connection = $this->shardConnectionManager->getConnection($shardDefinition, $shard);
+				$result = $query->executeQuery($connection)->fetchOne();
+				if ($result) {
+					$max = max($max, $result);
+				}
 			}
 		}
 		return $max;
diff --git a/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardConnectionManager.php b/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardConnectionManager.php
index 87cac58bc57ca..7698fdfed085f 100644
--- a/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardConnectionManager.php
+++ b/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardConnectionManager.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 use OC\DB\ConnectionFactory;
 use OC\SystemConfig;
 use OCP\IDBConnection;
+use OCP\Server;
 
 /**
  * Keeps track of the db connections to the various shards
@@ -28,8 +29,17 @@ public function __construct(
 
 	public function getConnection(ShardDefinition $shardDefinition, int $shard): IDBConnection {
 		$connectionKey = $shardDefinition->table . '_' . $shard;
-		if (!isset($this->connections[$connectionKey])) {
+
+		if (isset($this->connections[$connectionKey])) {
+			return $this->connections[$connectionKey];
+		}
+
+		if ($shard === ShardDefinition::MIGRATION_SHARD) {
+			$this->connections[$connectionKey] = \OC::$server->get(IDBConnection::class);
+		} elseif (isset($shardDefinition->shards[$shard])) {
 			$this->connections[$connectionKey] = $this->createConnection($shardDefinition->shards[$shard]);
+		} else {
+			throw new \InvalidArgumentException("invalid shard key $shard only " . count($shardDefinition->shards) . ' configured');
 		}
 
 		return $this->connections[$connectionKey];
diff --git a/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardDefinition.php b/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardDefinition.php
index ebccbb639a624..937d8f3ec727a 100644
--- a/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardDefinition.php
+++ b/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardDefinition.php
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 namespace OC\DB\QueryBuilder\Sharded;
 
+use lib\DB\QueryBuilder\Partitioned\JoinConditionTest;
 use OCP\DB\QueryBuilder\Sharded\IShardMapper;
 
 /**
@@ -15,7 +16,9 @@
  */
 class ShardDefinition {
 	// we reserve the bottom byte of the primary key for the initial shard, so the total shard count is limited to what we can fit there
-	public const MAX_SHARDS = 256;
+	// additionally, shard id 255 is reserved for migration purposes
+	public const MAX_SHARDS = 255;
+	public const MIGRATION_SHARD = 255;
 
 	public const PRIMARY_KEY_MASK = 0x7F_FF_FF_FF_FF_FF_FF_00;
 	public const PRIMARY_KEY_SHARD_MASK = 0x00_00_00_00_00_00_00_FF;
@@ -37,8 +40,10 @@ public function __construct(
 		public array $companionKeys,
 		public string $shardKey,
 		public IShardMapper $shardMapper,
-		public array $companionTables = [],
-		public array $shards = [],
+		public array $companionTables,
+		public array $shards,
+		public int $fromFileId,
+		public int $fromStorageId,
 	) {
 		if (count($this->shards) >= self::MAX_SHARDS) {
 			throw new \Exception('Only allowed maximum of ' . self::MAX_SHARDS . ' shards allowed');
@@ -53,11 +58,21 @@ public function hasTable(string $table): bool {
 	}
 
 	public function getShardForKey(int $key): int {
+		if ($key < $this->fromStorageId) {
+			return self::MIGRATION_SHARD;
+		}
 		return $this->shardMapper->getShardForKey($key, count($this->shards));
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @return List<int>
+	 */
 	public function getAllShards(): array {
-		return array_keys($this->shards);
+		if ($this->fromStorageId !== 0) {
+			return array_merge(array_keys($this->shards), [self::MIGRATION_SHARD]);
+		} else {
+			return array_keys($this->shards);
+		}
 	}
 
 	public function isKey(string $column): bool {
diff --git a/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardQueryRunner.php b/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardQueryRunner.php
index 51cd055e801fa..80e0071c7fb26 100644
--- a/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardQueryRunner.php
+++ b/lib/private/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/ShardQueryRunner.php
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ public function getShards(bool $allShards, array $shardKeys): ?array {
 	private function getLikelyShards(array $primaryKeys): array {
 		$shards = [];
 		foreach ($primaryKeys as $primaryKey) {
+			if ($primaryKey < $this->shardDefinition->fromFileId&& !in_array(ShardDefinition::MIGRATION_SHARD, $shards)) {
+				$shards[] = ShardDefinition::MIGRATION_SHARD;
+			}
 			$encodedShard = $primaryKey & ShardDefinition::PRIMARY_KEY_SHARD_MASK;
 			if ($encodedShard < count($this->shardDefinition->shards) && !in_array($encodedShard, $shards)) {
 				$shards[] = $encodedShard;
diff --git a/tests/lib/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/SharedQueryBuilderTest.php b/tests/lib/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/SharedQueryBuilderTest.php
index a135b9159ddfd..2f081564a840c 100644
--- a/tests/lib/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/SharedQueryBuilderTest.php
+++ b/tests/lib/DB/QueryBuilder/Sharded/SharedQueryBuilderTest.php
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ private function getQueryBuilder(string $table, string $shardColumn, string $pri
 		return new ShardedQueryBuilder(
 			$this->connection->getQueryBuilder(),
 			[
-				new ShardDefinition($table, $primaryColumn, [], $shardColumn, new RoundRobinShardMapper(), $companionTables, []),
+				new ShardDefinition($table, $primaryColumn, [], $shardColumn, new RoundRobinShardMapper(), $companionTables, [], 0),
 			],
 			$this->createMock(ShardConnectionManager::class),
 			$this->autoIncrementHandler,