diff --git a/src/database/migrations/env.py b/src/database/migrations/env.py
index c6f5e81..6912b0b 100644
--- a/src/database/migrations/env.py
+++ b/src/database/migrations/env.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 from alembic.script import ScriptDirectory
 from ddcDatabases import get_postgresql_settings
 from logging.config import fileConfig
-from sqlalchemy import engine_from_config, pool, text
+from sqlalchemy import create_engine, engine_from_config, pool, text
 from sqlalchemy.schema import SchemaItem
 from src.bot.constants.settings import get_bot_settings
 from src.database.models import BotBase
@@ -17,17 +17,36 @@
 
 _project_settings = get_bot_settings()
 _postgres_settings = get_postgresql_settings()
-_password = quote_plus(_postgres_settings.password).replace("%", "%%")
-_conn_url = (
-    f"{_postgres_settings.sync_driver}://"
-    f"{_postgres_settings.user}:"
-    f"{_password}@"
-    f"{_postgres_settings.host}:"
-    f"{_postgres_settings.port}/"
-    f"{_postgres_settings.database}"
-    f"?sslmode={_postgres_settings.ssl_mode}"
-)
-config.set_main_option("sqlalchemy.url", _conn_url)
+_password = quote_plus(_postgres_settings.password)
+
+
+def _build_url(database: str) -> str:
+    return (
+        f"{_postgres_settings.sync_driver}://"
+        f"{_postgres_settings.user}:"
+        f"{_password}@"
+        f"{_postgres_settings.host}:"
+        f"{_postgres_settings.port}/"
+        f"{database}"
+        f"?sslmode={_postgres_settings.ssl_mode}"
+    )
+
+
+def _ensure_database_exists() -> None:
+    """Connect to the 'postgres' maintenance DB and create the target database if it doesn't exist."""
+    db_name = _postgres_settings.database
+    engine = create_engine(_build_url("postgres"), isolation_level="AUTOCOMMIT")
+    with engine.connect() as conn:
+        result = conn.execute(text("SELECT 1 FROM pg_database WHERE datname = :db"), {"db": db_name})
+        if not result.scalar():
+            conn.execute(text(f'CREATE DATABASE "{db_name}"'))
+    engine.dispose()
+
+
+_ensure_database_exists()
+
+# set_main_option uses %-interpolation, so escape any % in the password
+config.set_main_option("sqlalchemy.url", _build_url(_postgres_settings.database).replace("%", "%%"))
 
 _schemas = {s.strip() for s in (_postgres_settings.schema or "public").split(",")}