diff --git a/web/apps/photos/src/utils/storage/mlIDbStorage.ts b/web/apps/photos/src/utils/storage/mlIDbStorage.ts
index eec86e3a2..6dccbb89d 100644
--- a/web/apps/photos/src/utils/storage/mlIDbStorage.ts
+++ b/web/apps/photos/src/utils/storage/mlIDbStorage.ts
@@ -85,30 +85,25 @@ class MLIDbStorage {
             async upgrade(db, oldVersion, newVersion, tx) {
                 let wasMLSearchEnabled = false;
                 try {
-                    const s: unknown = await tx
+                    const searchConfig: unknown = await tx
                         .objectStore("configs")
-                        .getKey(ML_SEARCH_CONFIG_NAME);
-                    if (typeof s == "string") {
-                        const json = JSON.parse(s);
-                        if (
-                            json &&
-                            typeof json == "object" &&
-                            "enabled" in json
-                        ) {
-                            const enabled = json.enabled;
-                            if (typeof enabled == "boolean") {
-                                wasMLSearchEnabled = enabled;
-                            }
-                        }
+                        .get(ML_SEARCH_CONFIG_NAME);
+                    if (
+                        searchConfig &&
+                        typeof searchConfig == "object" &&
+                        "enabled" in searchConfig &&
+                        typeof searchConfig.enabled == "boolean"
+                    ) {
+                        wasMLSearchEnabled = searchConfig.enabled;
                     }
                 } catch (e) {
-                    log.error(
-                        "Ignoring error while trying to determine ML search status during migration",
+                    log.info(
+                        "Ignoring likely harmless error while trying to determine ML search status during migration",
                         e,
                     );
                 }
                 log.info(
-                    `Old database had wasMLSearchEnabled = ${wasMLSearchEnabled}`,
+                    `Previous ML database v${oldVersion} had ML search ${wasMLSearchEnabled ? "enabled" : "disabled"}`,
                 );
 
                 if (oldVersion < 1) {
@@ -152,15 +147,28 @@ class MLIDbStorage {
                         .add(DEFAULT_ML_SEARCH_CONFIG, ML_SEARCH_CONFIG_NAME);
                 }
                 if (oldVersion < 4) {
-                    // TODO(MR): This loses the user's settings.
-                    db.deleteObjectStore("configs");
-                    db.createObjectStore("configs");
+                    try {
+                        await tx
+                            .objectStore("configs")
+                            .delete(ML_SEARCH_CONFIG_NAME);
 
-                    db.deleteObjectStore("things");
+                        await tx
+                            .objectStore("configs")
+                            .add(
+                                { enabled: wasMLSearchEnabled },
+                                ML_SEARCH_CONFIG_NAME,
+                            );
+
+                        db.deleteObjectStore("things");
+                    } catch {
+                        // TODO: ignore for now as we finalize the new version
+                        // the shipped implementation should have a more
+                        // deterministic migration.
+                    }
                 }
 
                 log.info(
-                    `Ml DB upgraded to version: ${newVersion} from version: ${oldVersion}`,
+                    `ML DB upgraded from version ${oldVersion} to version ${newVersion}`,
                 );
             },
         });